Stories - Long Story Short Award - 2026 - page 2 - all works

Short Fiction

4 min

Where I End

The notice was taped inside the laundry room, between a lost-cat flyer and an ad for a used bike. EXCHANGE, it said. ONE WEEK EACH. YOU WILL COME BACK. It was two in the morning and the dryer had ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

Decree

CH Lin

Once upon a time, there was a Kingdom called Gexoria. At the heart of Gexoria stood a sprawling tower made out of silver and gold, which gleamed softly in the moon's embrace. Within the tower's ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

The Path Not Taken

Ryan Fan

"I really don't understand why you won't just go down to Commonwealth. Takes like, half an hour." I stared at my bowl of noodles, unwilling to meet Cass' gaze. She was right ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Curtains

mireayn alias

In the library, I thumb through a biography of the Empress Dowager Cixi. I'd stumbled upon this book while browsing, the photo of her stern face eyeing me from the cover, through the generations ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

One Short Day

Yi An Alicia Chen

Madeline woke up to the smell of flowers. Sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she took in the wooden cabin bedroom she'd woken up in. On her bedside table, red and yellow peonies ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

The Daughter

Yet

I
Her heels struck the linoleum in firm, even intervals, her coat flaring behind her. In that overheated office, the school counselor's voice still hung in the air with counterfeit concern ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Twinkle Twinkle Little Crescent

speperenni.atelier

Dragging a stick in the sand, a girl in a violet dress crouched down, face scrunched in focus. Behind her, a girl with braided hair approached.
"What are you drawing?"
"Death," ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

Wishes

Wajiha Rahman

Everyone knew of the Iccha Pori, or the Wish Fairy, the same way everyone knew of the ruby amulet that had supposedly broken all treaties during the dark ages, or how they knew of how the best ... [+]