Stories - Long Story Short Award - 2024 - page 7 - all works

Short Fiction

5 min

Polishing Hazel

"Doctor, what's wrong with her."
Six-year-old Hazel shifts uncomfortably, like a convict in an interrogation chair, as her mother rattles off her symptoms. It sounds like she's dying, afflicted ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Mirror, Mirror?

Hilda Reid

I have been long exalted as the explorer of the forgotten. I traverse the chilliest peaks and the most blistering of jungles to exhume the secrets of past civilisations. My bedroom is littered with ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

The Apples of 134A Tuffnell Park Road

Ariel Wee

Robert and Mary Jones's house sits on Tuffnell Park Road, number 134A. Mostly a gift from Mary's family, but Robert had a couple of dimes saved up from the yard where he worked back in 1923. The ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

The Boy and the Bracelet

Skye Wang

It was the middle of the night, and the boy tinkered still.

Alone, nested in the heartwood of a great World Tree, far removed from any semblance of civilisation – the boy tinkered.

A ... [+]

Short Fiction

1 min

A Sea in the Living Room

Ana Zeng

Once in a blue moon, the sea forgot its boundaries and crept into our homes. Not like the hurricanes that howled and thrashed, no, this was gentle, as if the ocean had grown weary of its solitude ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

Recess

Ananaya Mittal

The thin film of night lifted - and for the first time in her three thousand eight hundred and seven days of existence, Jody saw the playground for what it was.
There was something about this ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Moonlight Murder

Ryan Singh

I don't owe the force anything.
Think of this as a personal favour. Partner to partner.
Our partnership ended long ago. Now if you excu-
If it ain't a partner you see me as, then ... [+]

Short Fiction

Ghost Stories and Walls

Katie Priscott

Erin Beckett wasn't scared of most things. She loved roller coasters, and she was the designated bug killer at home—even with three older brothers. When the offense of the other team came speeding ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Sulawesi Ferry: A Journey under the Blue Moon

Tara Sergeja Kadunc

Crowds gathered at Wakai port, the heart of the Togean archipelago on Sulawesi island, eagerly awaiting the ferry's departure at 5 PM. By 4, anticipation had begun to morph into impatient ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Rekindled Wish

Ng De Min

Everyone gets a wish granted to them once in a lifetime.
Manifesting as a shooting star in the night sky, it lasts for a total of three days before it fades away into obscurity, forgotten and ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

Scene from a Train

Zera Te

There's a scene that comes to mind when I'm on the train.
It's a blurry haven of spring weather, and I'm walking down the cobbled pavement with wired earphones blasting my usual mix. Step by ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Jie Jie

Julianne Faye Ong

The last time Mei* called me Jie Jie* was when she was still struggling to form words. I held on to that memory like how a mother holds onto her baby's milk tooth. There she was, perched on the top ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Angel of Death

Minwoo Kim

The moon was never blue.
It was December. The moon hung low, an eerie blue hue casting shadows across the dimly lit room. He stared at it through the window, hands trembling slightly as his ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Red Flag

Justine Reyes

WARNING: This story contains details of sexual violence and emotional abuse.
The first time we met, it was magical. You had your hands wrapped around me so tightly that I was struggling to ... [+]

Short Fiction

2 min

The Boy Who Cries For Wolves

Lily Nobel

The Boy Who Cries For Wolves For Oren
His friends: mailboxes, front doors in all colors (grayed by night), mud-puddles (bugs and tadpoles sleeping), the space between fence posts. The third ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

The Fall

Gabriel Lim

Crackles and pops emanate through the silence. Feet move like clockwork. As with all great things, it starts from the bottom. My soles have been worn thin by friction. A pesky thing friction is ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

The Blue Moon Letters

Emmanuel Ikeh

In the quaint town of Willow Creek, there was an unspoken rule: every once in a blue moon, something extraordinary would happen. The townsfolk had their rituals, but none quite compared to the ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

Eat Your Young

Lauren Moore

Bang! Bang! Bang! I rolled my eyes. Probably the neighbors again. I turned up my music and returned to my drawing. Crash! "AAAHHHHHH!" I huffed, slamming my pencil onto my desk. I got ... [+]