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A New Kind of Literary Pulse

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Logo Long Story Short Award - Fall 2020
Short Fiction
 1 min

Cemetery

Dylan Robinson

My intention was to head West, up the road towards my brother’s ranch. But upon spotting a squirrel crossing the road and making its way leftwards down the rare-visited dirt trail, I turned my horse ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 3 min

Night Time Run

Max Chambers

Glacier's purple spotted tongue, common to the Malamute Breed, displayed a joyousness that few humans dare to dream of.

But in this moment I dared. We were a team after all. And like a team ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 3 min

Unwelcomed Guest

Brennen Serre

One afternoon I was driving up the mountain to the place my grandparents used to live. It was a warm day for fall, but it was still overcast. It was the kind of day that you idolize when you dream of ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 5 min

The Friend from the Stars

Monasa Lo

Huff and puff went Abe, his short legs brough him across the wide grass plain. He held his favored toy truck in both of his hands.
“Hello!” He shouted into the trees. “I’m back!” His eyes darted ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 5 min

Story of My Life

Victoria Kuo

I let go of my most important friendship. I bad-mouthed my parents under my breath. I constantly searched for approval.

I met people who were more successful than me and compared myself to ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 3 min

Getaway Car

Jaidyn Eardley

The road stretched across the desert like a flattened serpent. It was a highway, but was rarely used anymore. A new highway had been constructed that traveled in a much straighter line. This old one ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 2 min

The Picture

Grace Tanner

It hung right above her bed, a spot of color on the white wall of her dorm room. Every morning, she woke up to the picture looming over her.
Why did she have it up? Of all the possible ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 5 min

The Beauty of the Beast

Angela Larson

The beast sunk into his chair, hazily gazing at the ceiling of the darkened room, nothing but the faint glow of fire and moonlight illuminating the outline of his satin throws and pillows. As he tried ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 2 min

Lady in a Skate

Jacob Heiner

There was once was a lady that lived in a shoe
She had lots of kids, and knew not what to do

She had twenty children, but they all were lazy.
They wouldn't do anything, and it drove he ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 5 min

Muse, or Dante's Inferno

Rae Bailey

It is a lonely life chasing inspiration.
Perhaps there are those who believe my eight sisters and I to be wellsprings of idea, belief, and inspiration; but one cannot enliven that which is dead ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 2 min

The Door

Aubrey Dickens

Do not open the door.
Merely contemplate opening the door.
Wonder why the door is there in the first place.
Look around. Notice the surrounding area. Notice the lack of trees. Notice the ai ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 5 min

The Wild

EMILY LEFEVRE

Ours was the wildest of starts.
I remember the guests of our wedding, leaving with smiles pleasantly lit on their faces, heard a group of our cousins murmur happily things like “buzzworthy,” ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 4 min

The First Word of the World

Aster Yan Cheng

She sat by her master’s bedside. The master wizard had been badly injured by the undead during the day’s battle and would likely not survive the night.
“Come here, I have one last thing to teach ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 4 min

A Day in Blyth

Jaden Lee

“Did you hear about SADS?”
“What?”
“Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome.”
“What’s that supposed to be?”
“Don’t you read the news, Archie?”
Archie shrugged lamely, unable to refute his ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 2 min

It’s Just Wood

Lisa Christensen

The spiderweb of the plum tree's bare branches let through a shaft of light just bright enough that it illuminated the sawdust that puffed forward with every stroke of the handsaw. Alynn focused on ...  [+]
Short Fiction
 5 min

Wine Salt With Tears

Brittney Hatchett

They call him the god of wine. Patron of madness and revelry. Deity of theatre and protector of the confused, the misfit, and the outcast. His names include Eleutherios, the liberator. Bacchus ...  [+]
Short Fiction
Short Fiction
 4 min

The First Fall

Abigayle Hobby

Have you ever wondered why the leaves turn brilliant shades of red and orange in the fall? It’s quite the story actually. No, it doesn’t have anything to do with chlorophyll or the earth's tilt. I ...  [+]