Stories - Long Story Short Award - 2024 - page 1 - all works

Short Fiction

5 min

A Glimpse in Time

"I found you!"
The somewhat voice of a customer echoed through the bakery, who I could only describe as having erupted into the store with their declaration, interrupting my work as I dutifully ... [+]

Short Fiction

1 min

Once in a Blue Moon

Dawn Lim

I will always remember the taste of the Moon.

the crispy edges etched into soft crumbs that hold sweet fillings and loveless bites

lotus flowers, ripped with vigour, torn into ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Six Shapes in the Blue

Bobby Fasciano

You find life on the moon. Now, you are not the one on the moon when you find it. That would be the rover, which your team built. It located and harvested the chunk of ice, but that's not the ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

Down the 8th Wonder River

Sanaa Pate

Summer opened her eyes and she realized she was on water. The girl began to feel queasy. Her mouth tasted like those sweet honeysuckle candies that would sit in the jar in the living room of he ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

Day of Harvest

Christopher C

The elders had always told us not to venture beyond the woods. We were a superstitious bunch; our village was our corner of the world. No one really knew what lay beyond the woods. Some say that ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

The Rollercoaster Within

Miss P.

Normalcy never resonated with me. Normal children do not try to take their mother's lithium, hoping they can "sleep forever." Normal children do not pinch themselves when they get angry. Normal ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

A Chance Encounter

Hamra Ali

The sun dipped below the horizon, casting a golden glow over the tranquil coastal town of Harbor Springs. Waves lapped gently against the shore, whispering secrets of the sea to anyone willing to ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

Heath

Robin Ross

Heath stood in a blank void before a white gate, made in the simplest shape. Two upright pillars of ivory towered above him, adorned in subtle swirls and decorative dotting, and held up a third ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

Operation: Blunatics

Abby Almas

We only ever met when the blue moon shone, a rare beacon in the night sky. I could hardly believe how vibrant it was, how strangely similar it was to your smile – both precious and elusive, yet on ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

A Moment with Dad in the Heart of Art

Constança Dimas

As I set foot in the Vatican, I was possessed by its energies and the chills that hovered over me. I am a woman who has lived long enough to defy what my eyes lay upon and spiral into my own black ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

The Traveling Tale of Baba Yaga and Death

Marcus Jensen

Once in a blue moon, Baba Yaga's house stops to rest.
When this happens, Death comes to play cards.
Baba Yaga and Death go far back, before her name had been washed away and replaced. The two ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

Forever

Delaney Hampton

Sickly sweet sap drips down from the trees. This sticky forest cries for us because it knows what we must do. What I must do. Our armor protects us from the leaking trees. I'm careful not to step ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Ice Cream at Pithole State

Lilah George

Orientation begins today and Dad graciously agreed to make the trek with me. He rolls the window down, and even though we are three hours away from Whitefish, I pray that no one from school will be ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

Purple Gold

Olivia Reed

The firepink flowers on the shore were purple in the dying light. I looked at them so that I didn't have to look at him. "It's almost time," he said, and pointed up ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

The Duel

Kendell Hayes

The Mod pushed the volume dial on his portable cassette player as high as it would go. Normally, he preferred to listen to the sound of his Lambretta as it cut through the cosmos, but the interstella ... [+]

Short Fiction

1 min

A Blessing so Rare

Kenley Kohls

The worms they pilgrimed onward
For a miracle they knew
Had poured from yonder heaven,
Their devotion would be due.

Onward! onward! To their harbor,
For the flies already there-
And beetles ... [+]

Short Fiction

1 min

Shallow Waters

Sophia Li

The sun had set on this side of the ocean. Here, we didn't have beaches or sand. Instead, cracked clam shells piled on the shore. The shards tumbled up the bank as the waves rolled in before ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Køge Blues

Jojo Lo

Once, as they passed Køge on the way to the village that would be their home for the next few decades, Ava convinced her mother to spend a day at its seaport shore. There, she stood at the edge of ... [+]