Stories - Long Story Short Award - 2025 - page 5 - all works

Short Fiction

3 min

The moment

Have you ever felt like you were standing on the edge of a cliff? Have you ever been in the clouds?
That is me right now — literally and figuratively. On a plane back from a trip with my senio ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Digging Up Ghosts

Matilda Iem

Nights are lonely in the urban jungle. There's no crickets, but creaky streetlamps hum. There's no stars, but the roads blind you. There's no wild animals, but its advised to never look in any strange ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Dreams of Being a Frat Boy

Ingrid Margrethe Larsen

I was always known as the gay roommate. It didn't necessarily bother me too much that people knew. I had no interest in the boys at school, not that I hadn't tried, but I didn't mind ruling them out ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

When the game ends

Lee-Jayne Chant

Baseball is my life. But lately I'd realized that I don't want that. I want to be all in, by taking more chances off the field, not just on the field.
I'm standing in the dugout of the Maine ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Haitang

Xiaoya Gao

The horses, exhausted and haggard, arrived at the half-dilapidated inn late in the evening, when the sun was but a dim orange ball dangling inches from the horizon. The riders were in no bette ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

In my eyes

web wm

The heaviness in his eyes grew stronger and stronger despite the rough field, a desperate need for sleep, even if was only a few minutes. His body burned because the battle; his fallen comrades and ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

6410 South Sylvan Lake Drive

Micah Barber

6410 South Sylvan Lake Drive. I'll remember that address for the rest of my life. It was the house that I primarily grew up in as a kid. And of course, it's located on the beautiful Lake Sylvan. I ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Get to Know Me

Isabella Avalos

Looking into the dirty mirror, I reapply my favorite pink sparkle lip gloss. The fluorescent lights of the coffee house restroom hound on me, making every wrinkle exaggerated, every pore gaping. I ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

All-in

Kenneth So

After quitting my job as a teacher, I have become a student studying for a master's degree at this school. In my free time, I am a part-time poker player. Some might even say I am a gambler. This is ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

A Smile That Was Enough

Siddhaanth Samant

Avinaash was loved as a child. Was. Many things were in Avinaash's life.
His mother was the purest soul anyone had ever known, until a car stole her, and his father, too. The house was laughte ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

A Ruthless Risk

Taylor Hughes

In the lively atmosphere of exciting yet anticipating music—tight-knit groups gathered around the bar and the poker area as they watched from afar. People huddled around on a specific table in the ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

The Auction

Grant Follett

‘Next up is a framed photograph of last year's company get together!'
The auctioneer kept his energy up, but we'd clearly hit the lower end items.
I sipped my wine. Speaking of lower end ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

The Angel's game

Aden Birch

Behind the Door was a casino out of time. It stood on pillars of brown marble in lines stretching far past the horizon. An infinite array of chandeliers spilled their warm, artificial light across the ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Royal Flush

Gabriela Neycheva

"Master is coming," the guard announces, poking his head through the chain-clad iron door. The room on the other side is full, yet a token dropping can be heard from a mile away.
After flinching ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

March

fern w.

The Sheets document glowed a glaring green. Bleary-eyed on a muggy March Monday, she continued to type, her legs folded under her. The tinted seminar room windows blunted the day; it was hard to tell ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

A Mile in Ari’s Shoes

Cece Small

I heard Ari discussing if she'll get rid of me today. I always knew this would happen, but this is the first time it's felt real. The notion of a fleeting existence. Or, at least the crumbling of my ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

The Final Alignment

Graham Field

The walls were a blinding white - almost too pure. They felt less like paint and more like calcified bone, caging me inside. I felt the graze of torn leather against my back, as toothpaste forced its ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

If I Knew This Was the Last

Evangeline Foo

"Toom... Toom... Toom!" The sound of the light switch echoed throughout the gym.

The time now – 5 a.m. It is still dark out, the moon merely mirroring the cast of the distant sun. A light ... [+]