Stories - Long Story Short Award - 2026 - page 1 - all works

Short Fiction

5 min

The Dust of Nilapur

Let us take a walk through the heart of rural Bengal today. If you look toward the very edge of Nilapur village, past the winding dirt paths, you will see a humble thatched hut. A five-year-old boy ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

The Other Side of the Door (Coraline)

Sean Loh

The door was evidently smaller than I remembered.
Kneeling in Coraline Jones's body, I turned the black key in my hand and stared blankly into the blue tunnel which I had seen countless of times ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Title at the End

Raimar Kanway

Pensively, I made my way inside. The door obliged the bell. The café was buzzing with life. My eyes scanned the room mechanically, inquiringly. There were only short tables left. Such a horror for a ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Project Rophe

Aceley Tan

Fairness is a fairytale that we preach, a gentle rule we try to teach. To humble those of gifted grace, to help children find virtue's place. We dream the good will find their peace, and wicked hands ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

By Her First Name

Zeyu Bian

She stepped onto the soft sand of the Peneus. Rather than look, she preferred to listen, breathe, touch. She let the summer wind pass through her hair, the heat press against her cheeks, the warm ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

The Life I Almost Remember

Michelle Lin

Before the sun gathered strength enough to gild the limestone, the city belonged to the sea. Its breath drifted through the narrow alleys, threading salt between stone houses and stirring the linen ... [+]

Short Fiction

2 min

'Trading Places'

Timothy Lopez

As I surveyed the dozens of empty tables spread across the void deck, it dawned on me how the last few days had seemingly passed like a blur. Friends and relatives must have come and gone, and yet ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Come Inside

Diya Mutha

Some inheritances come in a will. Mine came at five in the morning, in my chest.

I woke up coughing, and it wasn't my cough.

It sat low, heavy and wet, like something had moved in and ... [+]

Short Fiction

1 min

She died and left me waiting

Yi Bei Yeap

When he wakes up she is standing near the edge of the bed, on the side with the bureau. In the semi-darkness of the room he sees the stark white of her shirt, a slash of light that announces he ... [+]

Short Fiction

2 min

We Dream of Artificial Sheep

Aster Cheng

I am not a god. I am simply the law of this universe.
Without context, that statement sounds arrogant. Egotistical, even. Perhaps even ridiculous. Therefore, to put things into context, I shall ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

Surprise Me, Life

Skylar Random

Tomorrow, you will wake up in a body that is not quite yours. It is older and fatter than you remember. When you look at the calendar, it is 18 years from your current time. The house you came to is ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Before You Forget His Name

Lorraine Tan

On the night Paul was supposed to remember our son, I cooked enough fried rice for three.
I had done it without thinking. For six years, there had been three of us. My hands still measured out the ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Her

Ruby Tsoi

I've always looked up to Alyssa like a big sister. No matter what happened, she always knew exactly what to say. During my hardest times, she was by my side with a comforting smile, a hand on my ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

The Other Side of a Prayer

Maya

The last thing Meera said to her mother was, "I wish you'd leave me alone." Six hours later, her mother was dead. They had argued over a scholarship overseas. Her mother had hidden the ... [+]

Short Fiction

2 min

The Other Uniform

Charles Chan

At six on Monday morning, Mayor Helen Voss put on a bus driver's uniform.
It was supposed to be a photo opportunity. She'd ride Route 6, hear from passengers, and announce the ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Anemoia

B Vathsalaa

Something does not feel right.
This thought claimed my consciousness as I struggled to open my eyes. The body I was in felt foreign to me. The skin I wore felt stitched to my flesh, my insides ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Achikleos

Sneha Saravanan

The audacity of mortals to love what they must hate.
To yearn for a moment, and yet not belong in it. To want to let go and yet unable to.
Ha. The dead surely have an unfortunate amount of time ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

The Man Who Can't Stop

Clarence Tay

Switching on the simulation.
This was it. Everything I deserved. I was standing at the podium of the stage, with the beaming smiles of the judges next to me. In front of me stood rows of envious ... [+]