Prompt: Write a drabble—a short story of exactly 100 words—based on the photo prompt below. You can be funny, poignant, witty, etc.; it is, after all, your story.

Email your submission to yourstorycontest@aimmedia.com with the subject line “Your Story 138.”

No attachments, please. Include your name and mailing address. Entries without a name or mailing address will be disqualified.

Unfortunately, we cannot respond to every entry we receive, due to volume. No confirmation emails will be sent out to confirm receipt of submission. But be assured, all submissions received before the entry deadline are considered carefully. Official Rules.

Entry Deadline: October 20, 2025.

The post Your Story #138 appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Ground Zero

by F.A. Battle

I had an uncle who used to say that if the world ended while he was alive, he wanted to be at the heart of the destruction. When the asteroid slammed into the ocean or the nuclear bomb blew off half the continent, Uncle Esau wanted to be right at ground zero.

It wasn’t that my uncle had a death wish. It was more a desire to avoid the despair that comes after such a horrific event. Broken bodies and bloody aftermath. Naked orphans roaming the streets. Desperate, starving survivors, stabbing each other over the last honey bun in the bodega. “Who wants to deal with all that mess?” my uncle would say between bites of stew beef, rice, and collards. “Just take me out with the first wave.”

My mother always cooked for an army because, on top of feeding her own family, her older brother had a knack for showing up just as the food was ready. “What you got cooking up in these pots, girl?” Uncle Esau would ask, as he ambled toward the stove, plate and fork already in hand. She would yell at him for digging in her pots without washing up first. He would huff about it but always went to wash his hands. Then he’d fix his plate and the two of them would bicker, laugh, and gossip about their other siblings while he ate.

When the conversation turned to Armageddon, as it always did for some reason with Uncle Esau, my mother would mumble, “Here we go with this shit again.” Then, she would find something to do in another part of the house. But I loved it. I would sit at the kitchen table and drink in every bit of his dark wisdom about the world’s end.

Because he was my uncle, and I was a child, I was prone to agree with him on the whole post-apocalypse thing. There would be no military rule or refugee camps for me. I would be proud to get taken out on the front line, screaming like a bitch along with the rest of the moron army standing in the street, gaping up at the million-ton space rock careening toward our faces. Hypnotized by the scarlet hell boiling down on us instead of running our asses for cover. The few! The proud! The instantly fried! Sign me up, dammit! I’ll be the one melted right into my shoes.

Over the years, I’ve gleaned a great deal of strength from Uncle E’s philosophy and those endearing childhood chats about death and cataclysm. I’ve faced many trials with his voice echoing in my mind — Stand tall and take it head-on, girl! or If it don’t kill ya, it’ll make ya stronger, and who can forget the classic, If it kills ya … ah well.

But today, I am alone in this theater lobby, and all that big stand-strong-and-take-it-like-a-woman talk is barely a whisper in the distance. I’m locked on the pair of eyes just beyond the concession stand. They’re burning a hole through me. These mahogany pools, set ablaze with flecks of gold and emerald — are far more dangerous than any space rock. More deadly than any bomb or weapon of mass destruction. I’m hypnotized into paralysis. I’m a pathetic twitching mass with no will of my own. And contrary to my uncle’s wise teachings, every part of me wants nothing more than to run for cover.

If I could muster the will to move my legs that’s exactly what I would do. If I could suck enough air into my lungs to run out of this lobby and back into the street, then I would be so gone. But my legs are numb. My breath has rattled to a stop. And my heart is slamming against my chest, telling me to move forward or die right in this spot.

Twenty years. That’s how long I’ve known my husband. Married for 10 years. We have two beautiful children, a boy and a girl.

Am I happy?

Knowing that my kids are cherished and cared for by two loving parents makes me happy.

But am I happy?

I like my job. I make a decent living. We live a good life.

Girl! Are you happy?!

No. I am not happy. I want to be. I should be. I have tried to be for a very long time. I slip on the happy-wife mask and wear it for as long as I can tolerate. But then, my skin starts to itch, my head spins, and the mask slips away. Beneath, is a face I don’t fully recognize.

And now, here I stand at ground zero about to get pulverized by those eyes. Because I should not be here. But there’s no other place in the world I want to be. I am what? Gay? Bisexual? Lesbian? Queer? None of them feel right to my ears, so I use them all interchangeably, but only with myself. To everyone else, I am Mommy, Wife, Sister, Friend, Co-worker.

To everyone except her.

To her, I am simply Felicia. And this Felicia…this unmasked, wide-open Felicia is Beautiful. Passionate. Intense. Sexy … So deliciously different that I am unlike any other woman on the face of the planet. She tells me that in words, but she doesn’t have to. I can feel it in the caress that sends currents of electricity through my entire body before her fingertips even land on my skin. And in the way her lips claim my own for themselves. Both soft and delicate then deep and passionate, locked in kisses so sweet I can taste her for days after. The same lips that now smile at my approach, brush my cheek, and whisper my name, as I melt right into my shoes.

Let the bloody aftermath begin.

See the full list of winners here!

The post Ground Zero: Writer’s Digest 5th Annual Personal Essay Awards Winner appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Irene Te always knew she wanted to self-publish her YA romance novel, This Place Is Magic. “I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want to query this project,” she says. “I never even attempted it. It wasn’t a story that fit neatly into any boxes, and if it was difficult for me to position and pitch, I felt it would be difficult for an agent, too. And since there were so many elements I wasn’t OK with negotiating, I chose to self-publish. I saw it as the best way to stay true to the story I wanted to tell.”

Her instincts proved right, earning her the top prize in WD’s 32^nd Annual Self-Published Book Awards, but this also dispels the notion that self-publishing is merely a backup plan for authors if traditional publishing isn’t working out. The benefits of self-publishing—writing the story the way she wanted to, going against traditional romance tropes—far outweighed those of traditional publishing for Te to begin with; and now, the validation of winning Grand Prize is something she hopes teaches others the legitimacy of self-published books.

WD spoke with Te about why she entered the competition, the inspiration behind This Place Is Magic, and more.

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[WD uses affiliate links]

Congratulations on winning Grand Prize! What made you decide to enter our competition?

Thank you! I chose to enter this competition because I consider Writer’s Digest to be a reputable and reliable source of support for anyone who writes. I felt that winning—even an honorable mention—from a WD competition would be a great thing for me as a writer; I also felt that it would help me continue to dispel the misconception that self-published books are not worthy of critical acclaim on the same level as books that are traditionally published. I don’t think I’m the only self-published author who feels like no matter how much effort, care, and craft I put into my work, it’s still dismissed as lesser quality because I didn’t choose the traditional route to publication. It was nice to receive validation that I’d chosen the right path for my book. Winning an award from a respected industry publication like Writer’s Digest could help my book reach more readers.

Tell us about This Place Is Magic. How did the idea come to you?

The fictional K-pop group in this book has been around since 2017, starting out as a list of characters in a Google doc. Pretty much all my projects take a long time to simmer. Case in point, I didn’t return to the idea of writing about K-pop until early 2023, when I saw an Instagram post featuring an idol on an evening walk. He had his back turned to the camera, just strolling through some neighborhood in California. Initially, I was drawn to the aesthetic: the dark blue of the sky, the streetlamps, the billowing white shirt. It felt hopeful and carefree, but also kind of sad. Someone so famous would have a hard time taking a walk anywhere without being recognized or interrupted. Even the casual nature of this picture was, at heart, a kind of performance. It seemed exhausting.

I kept scrolling after that, but there was something about the image that just stayed with me. I started looking at all the other posts by idols in my feed and totally overthinking each one. I thought about how crazy it would be for someone to find a random K-pop idol wandering down the street outside their house. Why was he even there? What if he’d gotten lost? And then, the question that led me to my protagonist: What if he wanted to be lost? What if this character was running away?

Something I think you capture really well is the banter between characters. Charming, charismatic dialogue is critically important to a successful rom-com. How did you go about creating the unique voices for each of the characters?

In my experience, a character’s unique voice is directly tied to who they are as a person. I spend a lot of time thinking about where a character comes from, whether they’d be wordy in their responses or very brief and to the point, and if they have any phrases that they use a lot. Then I come up with “rules” for how each character uses language.

The fun part of banter and conversation between characters, for me, is watching the interplay of all these different “rules” in action. Some characters never interrupt. Others do nothing but interrupt. Some characters never curse and one character curses constantly. When you get them all interacting together, I think the dialogue has no choice but to be lively.

Were there any surprises in the writing process of This Place Is Magic?

The biggest surprise was how easily the story fell into place. It was the rare project that seemed to be writing itself. Although he’s the quietest and most undemanding protagonist I’ve ever written so far, Eunjae really had a story he wanted to tell me.

If you could share one piece of advice to other writers considering self-publishing, what would it be?

I think the best thing you can do for yourself as a writer is to cultivate a willingness to learn. Remain open to the idea that there’s always more learning you can do. This means studying craft, but also taking feedback and figuring out your unique process. Take the time to improve your skills. To me, learning is an investment in yourself. 

Enter the 33rd Self-Published Book Awards now!

The post Interview with Irene Te: WD’s 32nd Annual Self-Published Book Awards Winner appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Grand Prize

Matt Strempel, “Botched” (humor). Read the story here.

Memoir/Personal Essay

1. “Cupcakes and Eternity” by Kristin Eck
2. “Asia (1969)” by Jennifer Rose
3. “Like Mother, Like Daughter” by Kira Schiavone
4. “Seeking the Third” by Alison Luterman
5. “No Such Thing as Just One M&M” by Katrina Peacock
6. “Harvest” by Catherine L. Hensley
7. “To Write or Not to Write: The Case for Both” by Alan George Maki
8. “Night Rounds” by Joseph Marr
9. “First Shift” by E.R.J. McKay
10. “Who yo people” by Pam Sam

Honorable Mentions

• “A Final Prayer” by Carol Larson
• “A Poetry Lesson Named Craig” by Clint Martin
• “A Weapon of Junipers and Jays” by NV Mann
• “Aging, Angst and Anxiety” by Stephanie Baker
• “All Summer in a Day at the Ballpark” by Barbara Tylla
• “An Unspoken Apology” by Leslie Absher
• “And the walls came tumbling down” by Katrina Brown
• “Avoiding the Danger of Relative Privation When Lives and Art Are Lost: A change in the way society values art can address the growing popularity of putting art in the crosshairs to make a point.” by Ron Leshnower
• “Bitten by the Mosquito: A College Student’s Essay on Her Severe Intrusive-Thought OCD” by Hannah Lavoie
• “Come on Down” by Mary Warwick
• “Different Hands and Knees” by Penny Dahl
• “Door to Door” by Joella Aragon
• “Fantasy” by Skylar Colby
• “Fluent in Distance” by Laura O’Gorman Schwartz
• “Gotta Have It” by K. Patrick O’Neill
• “Grass Bradford” by Fillmore Same
• “Holding a Glass Up to the Light” by Rosanne Gordon
• “I was a little girl once.” by Devin Overend
• “Jocko’s Gone” by Steve Powell
• “Learning to Trust Again” by Linda Summerford
• “Mandy” by Amy Claire Massingale
• “Northern Lights” by Mo Conlan
• “Polar Plunge” by Jennifer Jones
• “Poop Happens” by Stephanie Kilpatrick
• “Powers of Poseidon” by Katherine Larryn
• “Raymona” by Allison Cross
• “Shattered” by Lillian Martin
• “Stays Mainly in the Plain” by Joe Blair
• “Teabiskitwala Cafe’” by Wanderwoman
• “The Club No One Wants to Join” by Rebecca Bartlett
• “The Fear of Going Missing” by Matthew Haynes
• “The Forever Medicine” by MJ Robertson
• “The Melting Watch” by Bliss Goldstein
• “The Wolf” by KT Ryan
• “There is an Ocean” by susan westlund
• “Threads of Life” by Diane M. How
• “Three Pieces of Pie” by Carole Vasta Folley
• “Unexpected Ending” by Brian Watson
• “Uninvited” by Brandon Williams
• “What They Brought” by Maryann Grau
• “Why I Hate Tuesdays” by Vivian Finck
• “Working … Like a Dog” by Sheryl Bass

Inspirational/Spiritual

1. “Mystical Messages” by Grace Ryan
2. “Family Matters” by Michelle Layer Rahal
3. “Flutter” by Shelby Poulin
4. “Fertile Emptiness” Marielena Zuniga
5. “Guzen or Gift?” by KK
6. “Finn” by Kristen Swanson
7. “A note from the friend every person should have” by Tiffany Chartier
8. “Taffy” by Karen Tinsley
9. “Breath as a Blessing” by Angela Waldron
10. “The Husband, the Hound, and the Good Shepherd” by Allia Zobel Nolan

Honorable Mentions

• “A Conversation with a Stranger” by Alex Lee
• “A Mirror Moment: God, Make Me Stronger Than the Alcohol Proof” by Sincerely Syreeta
• “A Personal Reflection on a Solar Eclipse” by Dan Zavoianu
• “A True Story” by Jean Lennon
• “A True Testimony” by Robyn Gaffney
• “Acceptance” by Kerith Mickelson
• “An Epiphany of Angels” by Preetamdas Kirtana
• “Anticipating Forsythia” by Maureen Miller
• “Bird Days: Living with Chronic Illness” by Kristina Fluitt
• “Conversations on Fire” by Jennifer G. Townsend
• “Cradlesong” by Maureen Miller
• “Cries from a Cold Bathroom Floor” by Rhett Wilson
• “Eulogy for Beth Martin” by Rona Trachtenberg
• “Field Notes from the Forest Floor: Foraging as Spiritual Practice” by Daniel Cooperrider
• “God, Roses, and Jiffy Lube” by Rhett Wilson
• “Growing Old” by Q. L. Berger
• “I’ve Always Been a Pirate” by Kendra Boersen
• “My Friendship Bracelet” by Jorge Brana
• “Star Sapphire” by Dianne Beard
• “Stay for the Cookies” by Kris Winters
• “Superheroes Among Us” by Karen Taylor
• “Tangled Up in Grief” by Sarah Brown
• “The Bluebirds” by Robin Rogel
• “The Day of Dance” by Annika Connor
• “The Everythingness of Interbeing” by Jenny Zenner
• “The Faithfulness of God: the MRI” by Kathy Benedetto
• “The Greening of My Soul” by Mo Conlan
• “The Handoff” by Tim Campbell
• “The Sheep and the Goats” by Chief John West
• “The Tree Who Saw the Sky” by Karen Townsend
• “The View From the Window” by Beth Olson
• “Vision” by JM Fletcher
• “What They Brought” by Maryann Grau
• “Windsong” by Rachael M. Colby
• “Woody” by Peggie S. Tucker

Children’s/Young Adult Fiction

1. “Choosing Week” by Ruth Scharff-Hansen
2. “The Art of Motivation” by Henry Weese
3. “Untitled Picture Book” by Paige Cohen
4. “The Field Trip to the End of the World” by Sydney Weber
5. “Mommies Always Come Back” by Sherry Sallows
6. “The Canon of Katrina Quinn” by Anne Hanovich
7. “SNORKELING WITH SHARKS” by Symantha Sanda
8. “Marta Blossoms” by Rochelle Stretton
9. “Beware of Monsters” by JL Auguste
10. “All Shapes Belong” by Theresa Rice 

Honorable Mentions

• “A Torch Made of Darkness” by Darya Black
• “Bedtime Crew” by Jenna Stehler
• “Bedtime Hullabaloo” by Sharon White
• “Betwixt the Stars and Seas” by Jennyfer Gilgan
• “Blood Raven” by Becky Franklyn
• “Castaway Carl” by Carolyn Irving
• “Colorful Feelings” by T.N. Wehr
• “Girls in Polka-Dot Dresses Change the World. A Peace Corps Stories Series Story (Cameroon)” by Leonia
• “Growing Up” by Liberty McArtor
• “How to Attract a Hummingbird” by Symantha Sanda
• “How to Ride a Tiger” by Nicole King
• “I’m Telling Your Mother on You!” by Kathleen Jacobs
• “Love, Little Liberty” by Kathleen Jacobs
• “Lovely Nothing” by Krista Harrington
• “Mrs. Patrick’s Attic” by Jessica Dunnagan
• “Nat and the Not-Recital” by Tracie Renee
• “Not Ready Yet” by Michelle Nott
• “Our House Illuminated” by Kate Spires
• “Passages” by Peter Hausman
• “Peace and Carrots” by Angela De Groot
• “Reenie Brings the Rain” by Angela De Groot
• “Stealthy, Wealthy & Lies” by Elaine Hrivnak
• “Sweet Sixteen” by Meg Oolders
• “The Bench” by Larissa Hockett
• “The Boogeyman Ballad” by Kimberly Dana
• “The Cosmic Adventures of Galaxy McManus” by Christa Martin
• “The Elm of Elmwick Manor” by Breanne Palmerini
• “The Gift” by Michael Harley
• “The Late Migration” by Blake Byington
• “The Magical Tree” by Robin Currie
• “The Stones” by DM Reynolds
• “The Wednesday Lesson: A Short Story in Free Verse” by Tracie Renee
• “Use This Book as Wings” by Allan Peterkin
• “Walk A Mile: Steps in Time” by Robin Korb
• “Winter in the Boreal Forest” by Virginia Talbert Hickey

Genre Short Story

1. “Good Reason” by Jillian Grant Shoichet
2. “Border Crossing” by Brian Huber
3. “The Potomac Smelled Like Guts” by Laura Garden
4. “A Parting Gift” by Susan Goodwin
5. “The Apex” by Jennifer Slee
6. “The Last Super” by Andrea Sumner
7. “Ink” by Erich Noack
8. “Child in Time” by Keby Boyer
9. “A Song of Love and Longing” by Leslie Wibberley
10. “FisherMan” by Megan Ham

Honorable Mentions

• “A Bedtime Story” by Erica Balfour
• “A Purr-fect Love” by C.K. Shard
• “A Recipe for Change” by Charly
• “Brilliant Cut” by Tanya Menoni
• “Ceremony for the Sea” by Katie McLean Hoar
• “Coin Boy” by Kayla Sue Pugh
• “Dark Wings” by B. R. Knight
• “Deathbreaker” by Gracie Eland
• “Default 666” by Sharon Wagner
• “Dilemma on Mars” by Fred Shackelford
• “Eden” by Michael Stanley
• “Enough” by Murphy Maurice
• “A House Without Flowers” by J.A.Clarke
• “In the Back of the Truck” by Covington Dunn
• “Mercy” by Jennifer Della’Zanna
• “Mrs. Kornelie’s Cup-de-sac” by Lynda Vaughan
• “Old Forgotten Friends” by Philip Rosenblatt
• “Prize Horse” by Christina Lyon
• “Puckish Delight” by Charles Green
• “Rain” by Danny Imwold
• “Robot Baptism” by W. Steve Wilson
• “Rougarou” by Robin Lee Lovelace
• “Rule Number One” by Cat Sides
• “Shavasana” by Tree Martin
• “She Suffered” by LJ Denham
• “Spiderwebs and Ants” by Casey Nyvall
• “Stepping Forward” by Shirley Qin
• “The Angel’s Workweek” by Amy Suto
• “The Draft” by Erin M. Chavis
• “The Ice Cream Man” by James Logsdon
• “The Lady” by Kayla Mesker
• “The Magus and the Rabbit” by Mariel Masque
• “The Running Game” by Jennifer Slee
• “The Temporary Pastor” by Barbara Barker
• “The Third Men” by Jennifer Slee
• “The Toreador of the Tunnels” by Sheila Sharpe
• “The Vessel” by Thomas Bergamini
• “World of Harms” by B.C. Bond
• “Wrath of Venus” by Joey Krzeminski
• “Yellowstone: A Mystery” by A.L.Padden

Mainstream/Literary Short Story

1. “Offline Friend” by Angie St. John
2. “Do Or Dash” by Patricia Ljutic
3. “Wingman From Hell” by Peter Morris
4. “Mother’s Milk” by Steven Sax
5. “Donovan’s Calling” by Stacey Marinuzzi
6. “The Wheat and the Tares” by Austin Lovelace
7. “Persuasions” by Jill Martin
8. “Arctic Peonies” by Birgit Lennertz Sarrimanolis
9. “The Wreck of the Triumph” by Baird Harper
10. “Snapshots: A Triptych” by Ernest Wiggins

Honorable Mentions

• “81 Bowery” by Holly Lau
• “A Handful of Smoke” by Greg Jones
• “And Only I Remain” by Michael Pearson
• “Blackbird” by David M. Herman
• “Bucket List” by Kelly Beachell
• “Burying Chago” by Morgan Smith
• “Child In Time” by Keby Boyer
• “Cripple Creek” by Stephany Zoo
• “Eat Your Heart Out” by Jennifer Slee
• “Festival” by Ronan Ryan
• “Fishing” by Karl Luntta
• “Gigi, September 1, 1985–August 15, 1988” by J. Milanes
• “Grandmother’s Blueberry Basket” by Katelyn T. Nelsen
• “Her Watch” by Nicole Senyi
• “Holy Ghost” by Kate Fitzgerald
• “House-Haven-Home” by Kem Joy Ukwu
• “How She Happens” by Frances Drayus
• “Lemongrass” by Nicole Chea
• “Lost and Found” by Patricia McMahon
• “Luck” by Megan Baxter
• “Mermaids” by Laura Souza
• “Of Course You Will Go to Grad School” by Beilin Ye
• “On Fire, a Halo for Eternity” by Michael Pearson
• “Only You” by Sonny Fillmore
• “Over” by Dan DeNoon
• “Phoenix” by Heather Foster
• “Polka-Dots” by Angela Kirby
• “Pushin’ Through” by Barb Miller
• “San Jose Ways” by Kate Fitzgerald
• “Sanctuary” by Patricia Ljutic
• “Seams” by Florence Ashley
• “She Believed in Numbers” by Martha Williams
• “Shiloh” by M. K. Brackett
• “Sins of Authenticity” by Bret Wengeler
• “Squeak” by Konner Mel
• “Sweat” by Marta Woodward
• “The Body in the Valley” by Anyelly Herrera
• “The Circus” by Katie Harms
• “The Clocks That Worked” by Edward Carthew
• “The Fragrance of Bitter Oranges” by Charles Frode
• “The Math of Universe” by Christine Panas
• “The Planet of Love” by David Gurman
• “The Pomegranate Lady” by Lucy Fielding
• “The Sultan of Flip” by Dana Fitz Gale
• “The Sweet House” by Eaton Hamilton
• “The Things They Carried: Women’s Edition” by Lori Crispo
• “The Wages of Sin Are Low” by Ken Elliott
• “This Is All Your Fault” by Tanya Menoni
• “Til Valhalla” by Eric Swanson
• “Well” by Gail Bradburn

Humor

1. “Imperfect Endings” by Judith Carlough
2. “Thursday Night Flights” by Jeanne Favini
3. “One-Star Reviews” by Jake West
4. “Ari and Dean (Harry and Dino)” by Nicholas Gaitanakais
5. “Breaking Burque—The Eyebrows” by Sneaks Montoya
6. “Blacksmith and Maiden, a Little Fairy Tale” by Carl Imboden
7. “The Answer Is …” by Don Michalowski
8. “Perfect Crimes” by Chuck Collins
9. “It’s Complicated” by Pauline Hepler
10. “Worms With Those Fries?” by Terry Sachko

Honorable Mentions

• “Playing Doctor” by Amy Mills
• “A Moving Experience” by Alicia “Panama” Canal
• “An RV Wife” by Karna Bodman
• “Big Break” by Aaron Hawkins
• “Braving Anniversary Trip #2” by Davene Coutts
• “Brotherhood versus Motherhood” by Patricia Stettler
• “Chainsaws Are Loud” by ER Castaneda
• “Copier Schmopier” by Julie Prince
• “Countrified” by Amber Dawnne
• “Emperor of Etiquette” by Michael Oakes
• “I, Marlon James, or The Case of Marlon James and the Unidentified Body” by A. Rafael Johnson
• “In A Pickle” by Gretchen Ayoub
• “Ina Johansson vs. The Scotcheroo Bandit” by Kate Swenson
• “King of the Cowboys” by Rick Niece
• “Not quite child proof” by Lucianne Poole
• “NYC Driving Directions” by Cynthia M. Balagtas
• “Please Rate Your Self-Driving Dogsled Activity in Finnish Lapland” by Wendy Diliberti
• “Sex, Blood, and Sugar” by Lars Chinburg
• “Spring Break 1977” by Mary Pat Burke
• “Their Stupidity Was Criminal” by Michael A. Fuoco
• “Three Swipe Rights Gone Wrong” by Lori Mulligan
• “Tired in the U.S.A.” by Molly Devane
• “Water, Water Everywhere … and Lots of Drops to Drink” by ER Castaneda
• “Wedding Whiplash: How I Lost a Friend and Regained My Sanity” by Cheryl Free
• “What’s In a Bowl and Basket” by Tresslyn Brown
• “What’s So Funny About Tennis” by Paul Fein
• “Who is going to move the body?” by Mary Finnen
• “Wild Goose Chase” by Andrea Poniers
• “Wonder in the Small Things” by Alex Lee

Rhyming Poetry

1. “Inexorable” by Sarah Costin
2. “Torus” by Linda Drattell
3. “The Liberace Terza Rima” by Holly Eva Allen
4. “Enigmatic” by Felicia De Chabris
5. “Foot-Notes” by Landon Porter
6. “The Backyard of the Universe” by Michael Olson
7. “17. Anonymous” by Jess X. Moor
8. “Transform” by Kathy O’Grady Bose
9. “While We Slept” by Landon Porter
10. “You’re Not in Kansas, Either” by Robert Daseler

Honorable Mentions

• “Baldwin Beach” by Konner Mel
• “Blackburn’s Devils” by Jack Bannon
• “Cabin Poignant” by Erik S. Nites
• “Cobwebs” by Christin Haws
• “Convalescent Summer” by Konner Mel
• “Dawn Moonset, Sunset Crater” by Konner Mel
• “Departure’s Eve” by Patrick Walker
• “Edinburgh Twilight” by Konner Mel
• “Far From (Religious)” by Ato Dankwa
• “For Blaise Pascal, in Regard to Public Transport” by Patrick Walker
• “Fractured Sonnet on the Survivors of Catastrophic Loss” by Clif Mason
• “Fruit Fly Genocide” by Patrick Walker
• “Grand Canyon Dawn” by Konner Mel
• “Hourglass” by Gloria Herdt
• “Kxai-Kxai Dawn” by Konner Mel
• “Little Old Men Who Live in the Desert” by Ockert Greeff
• “Loose Change” by Konner Mel
• “Missiles” by Jacob Schapiro
• “Nigel No Mates” by Steve McDonald
• “Night Passage” by Francis Flavin
• “Oaks and Such” by Robert Allen Nelson
• “Okaloosa” by Mikayla Holland
• “One Lightning Bug” by Anna Lena Phillips Bell
• “Outlaws” by Robin Johnson-Drogo
• “Passing” by Louise Kantro
• “Point—Counterpoint” by James Cook
• “Prelude to Cinematography” by Joshua Burton
• “Roses” by Kimberly Shaw
• “Smile” by King Shawn Da Dawnn
• “Sudden Infant Death Syndrome” by Kache’ Attyana Mumford
• “Tanaga Cycle: Class of ’99” by AJ Layague
• “The Borrowed Anthology” by Anna Amatuzio
• “The Color Blue” by MJ Craft
• “The Seduction” by Kathy Humenik
• “The Selfish Sacrifice” by Areej Khan
• “The Terse Calligraphy of Sunset Clouds” by Patrick Walker
• “Theophany” by James Cook
• “three tall blondes” by Michael Miller
• “Uncle Bob” by Patrick Walker
• “Weasel in Winter in the Summer Cottage” by Sally Cobau 

Non-Rhyming Poetry

1. “His Name Was Yitzhak” by Redd Ryder
2. “Minotaur in Love” by Redd Ryder
3. “Broken Pantoum” by Jessika O’Sullivan
4. “Slave Ship, Alabama” by Redd Ryder
5. “I am Trying to Ask the Dead Their Names” by Zachariah Claypole White
6. “Condemned” by Dennis Rhodes
7. “Nineteen Kinds of Moss” by Sonya Schneider
8. “Dissociation” by Kim Kavanagh
9. “The Squirrel Made His Way” by Alicia Cook
10. “Adding Flavor” by Paul Tifford Jr.

Honorable Mentions

• “1974” by Kimberly Shaw
• “A Red Hawk” by Enid Valdez
• “Amid the Luminous Grit” by Jeffery Allen Tobin
• “An Early Autumn Walk” by Elizabeth Elder
• “Before the Exorcism” by Mari Farrand
• “Cocoon” by Christy Wise
• “Demeter’s Drought” by Marion M. Walsh
• “Distant Recurrence” by Mickie Kennedy
• “Dogma” by Mary Paulson
• “elegy for two at the river thames” by Dean Gessie
• “Falling Watermelon” by Neal Wong
• “Finding My Boyfriend in Bed, 1993” by Mickie Kennedy
• “Full Self Driving” by Candice M. Kelsey
• “Guarding the Coop” by Mickie Kennedy
• “I Am of Big Woods” by Barbara Messick
• “I Saw You Crying” by Rick Kearns
• “In Between The Sheets” by Tanya Bartlett
• “In Safed” by Yael Ezry
• “Known For” by Dennis Todd
• “Lake Monster” by Andrew Beerworth
• “Lineage” by Marena Fleites Lear
• “Modesto’s Knitting Circle” by Redd Ryder
• “Muse” by Katherine Atwell Herbert
• “My body: a host for parasitic morality” by Julia Mauro
• “Myrmecology” by Alexandra Ozols
• “Need” by Mary Paulson
• “Nothing but Black” by Jane R. Snyder
• “Ode to a Letter of Recommendation” by Janice Zerfas
• “Ode to My Autism” by Melody Miller
• “Ode to the Clothesline of Trevi” by Suellen Wedmore
• “Omakase” by Afton Kolbe
• “play cousins” by Nicole Adabunu
• “Prostate Hierophany” by Mickie Kennedy
• “Restless in Arenal” by David DeGusta
• “Rosemary” by Leah Applebee Lojo
• “Sophomore Year” by Rebecca Buller
• “Tether” by Alison Luterman
• “The Beaches of Normandie” by kari martindale
• “The Boy Who Could Not Give Up” by Ockert Greeff
• “The Good Driver” by Joseph Kuhn Carey
• “The Neighborhood” by Kristen Wilson
• “The Post Office” by Rebecca Buller
• “The Vanishing” by Laurie Paternoster
• “The Visitation” by Kathleen Rugel
• “Uncle Ronny on the Local News” by Mickie Kennedy
• “Wait” by Veronica Schorr
• “Wall of Clocks” by Kathleen McCoy
• “What a Summer Was” by RG Thielen
• “What the Strength Card Said” by Alison Luterman
• “you when i find you” by David DeGusta

Nonfiction Essay or Article

1. “Rational Drug Design: Gertrude Elion and Her Medicines that Changed the World” by Leonardo Chung
2. “Candy Girl” by Matt Cheek
3. “There are No Patients. There are Only Dancers” by Ember Reichgott Junge
4. “The Holy Righteous Queen Tamar: Christian King of Medieval Georgia” by Angela Waldron
5. “Anatolian Sikke” by Angela Waldron
6. “Rosie the Riveter” by Cynthia Furlong Reynolds
7. “Meiringen, 1891” by Niki Fakhoori
8. “What’s in a Gnome?” by Justin Marlowe
9. “In the Footsteps of Valentino” by Cindy Gentry
10. “Watermelon and Buttercups: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” by Veronica Brown

Honorable Mentions

• “I Don’t Know What ‘Like This’ Is” by Ember Reichgott Junge
• “You’ll Never Walk Again” by Ember Reichgott Junge
• “A Bay Like No Other” by Doug Alderson
• “A Survivor’s Tale: Along Quebec Explorers’ Route” by David Lee Drotar
• “Armed and Dangerous” by Kathy Bradshaw
• “Channeling Her Inner Strength” by Kathy Bradshaw
• “Dementia: Meet Them Where They Are” by Ember Reichgott Junge
• “Donald Trump and the X-Bet” by Timothy Dixon
• “Duende in the Desert” by Elaine Howley
• “Expanding the Community” by Elaine Howley
• “Gravy Veins” by Ginger Sinsabaugh
• “Harmony and Union Come Home” by D. A. Dorwart
• “If Looks Could Kill: The Power of the Evil Eye” by Angela Waldron
• “Losing Luggage and Finding Hope” by Heide Brandes
• “Maud Without an E” by Naomi Horne
• “Mighty Mitochondria” by Elaine Howley
• “No Dance Partner? No Problem!” by Ember Reichgott Junge
• “Of Katydids and Mongolian Climes” by Elaine Howley
• “Primitive threat response” by Vivien Huang
• “Ryan Dusick Finds It No Longer Harder to Breathe” by Sheryl Aronson
• “Spy fiction is back in vogue. But did you know there are two basic types?” by Joan M. Kop
• “The ADHD Diagnostic Criteria Sucks at Capturing Females and People of Color” by Vivien Huang
• “The Civil Rights Connection Between the U.S.A. and Northern Ireland” by Forest Issac Jones
• “The Cold Way Women are Finding Relief” by Elaine Howley
• “The DSM may be wrong about anxiety disorders” by Vivien Huang
• “The Greatest Therapy of All” by Ember Reichgott Junge
• “The Missing Link: The Critical Connections Between Technique and Tactics in Tennis” by Paul Fein
• “The Mouse and I” by Troy W. Green
• “Let Us Entertain You” by Paul Fein

The post Announcing the Winners of the 93rd Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition appeared first on Writer's Digest.

What do you like most about writing in the short short form?

Short shorts can be so challenging to write. Sometimes I feel as though I’m creating a word puzzle; like I’m trying to touch all the bases with very few toes. I started writing shorts when my daughter was small and my life so overscheduled that larger writing projects were difficult to manage. I enjoy reading (and dissecting) short shorts, too. Taking a well-written story down to its elements is like figuring out how a magic trick is performed.

Where did the inspiration for “Fountain of Ruth” come from?

When I’m in the car alone, I like to drive in silence. Too much noise makes it hard for ideas to be heard. So, I was enjoying one of my silent drives when the first several sentences simply dropped into my head. It wasn’t just a vague idea for a story, but the actual start of it. I dictated those full sentences into my phone and kept driving. By the time I arrived home a few hours later, all the pieces were there. I just had to put them together—and then edit for months. I had more fun writing Fountain of Ruth than anything else. There was something a bit surreal about the process.

What did your drafting and revision processes look like for “Fountain of Ruth”?

Although writing the story itself didn’t take long, the editing and rewriting took much longer. Once the draft was together, I sent it to my writing group, my daughter, and a few writer friends. Their suggestions greatly strengthened the story. I went through every sentence repeatedly, to the point where I nearly had it memorized. I also read it out loud several times to catch repetitious words and other stumbles.

What interested you in entering WD’s Short Short Competition?

The WD competitions are so well-known and respected that winning or placing enables a writer to feel validated, which I badly needed at the time. Although I’ve been writing for years and even won first place in two previous WD competitions (short genre fiction in 2012 and 2008), I had stepped away from short fiction for several years and feared I had lost my chops.

But I had a lot more at stake with this contest than just the entry fee. I had made a dumb deal with myself.

Even though writing has always been my first love, life got between us over and over again. For many years, I worked a day job, a night job, and freelanced, all while also raising my daughter. Now that she’s grown, my husband and I moved into a 125-year-old warehouse we are trying to rehab ourselves, while still working our day jobs. It had become so hard to make time to write that I began to wonder if perhaps it was time to put writing dreams aside and focus only on our building project.

Over the winter, when it was too cold for much construction, I wrote several new short stories. I submitted those stories to six different contests and told myself even a 10^th level honorable mention would keep me in the writing game, but nothing at all would be my sign it was time to close my laptop.

When the rejections began to arrive, one after another, I found myself wishing I had sent out more stories or chosen less significant contests—or believed in myself enough to not need validation to continue doing something I love so much.

By February, I had been rejected by every contest but one. The biggest of all I had entered.

So, thank you, Writer’s Digest, for keeping me in the game.

What advice do you have for other writers out there?

Don’t make stupid deals with yourself.

See the list of winners here!

The post Karin Patton: 2024 Short Short Story Award Winner appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Out of many great entries, WD editors selected the following 25 winners:

1. “The Fountain of Ruth” by Karin Patton

2. “Cotton” by Jasmine Griffin

3. “Sixteen, Summer” by Shannon Bowring

4. “Epilogue: The Story After the Story” by Jim Hunstein

5. “Unscratched” by NVMann

6. “Midrise” by Michele Ruby

7. “The Personality Writer” by Jenno Kane

8. “Ghosts of Winter” by Ronald McGuire

9. “Beyond the Fence” by Noreen Kilbride

10. “We Could Never Afford a Headstone” by Clayton Bradshaw-Mittal

11. “The Smell of Old Books” by David Osgood

12. “Twister” by Gary V Powell

13. “Last Writes” by William County

14. “Last Call” by Kate Adams

15. “Road To Nowhere” by Jennifer Braunfels

16. “A Crown of Azaleas” by Ramona Richards

17. “Hope Never Stops-at-All” by Tiffany Link

18. “The Last Migration” by Robyn Dabney

19. “The Thought of Remembering” by D’Spencer Luyao

20. “The Empress in the Front Yard” by Kristofer Schleicher

21. “A Numbers Game” by John Foley

22. “Dear” by Marilyn Hope

23. “Last Words of Ordinary Things: The Wristwatch” by L.C. Davis

24. “The Okie Dokie” by Rachel Childers

25. “Why Do They Call It Toilet Water?” by Amy DeFlavis 

The post Announcing the Winners of the 24th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition appeared first on Writer's Digest.

[WD uses affiliate links.]

Grand Prize

The Cruel Dark by Bea Northwick, NorthwickBooks.com

Contemporary Fiction

First Place

Secret of the Hindu Kush by Anthony Stone, AnthonyStone-Author.com

Honorable Mentions

Jaguar Spirit by Zoe Hauser, ZoeHauser.com

Pheidippides Didn’t Die by Autumn Konopka, AutumnKonopka.com

The Playgroup by Jami Worthington

The Way It’s Supposed to Be by April Garner, AprilGarner.com

Fantasy

First Place

Children of Cain by S. L. Myers

Honorable Mentions

Find Them by Julia Ash, JuliaAshBooks.wordpress.com

The Kimoni Legacy: Initiation by Omari Richards, Omari-Richards.com

The Sword and Shield by Emma Khoury, EmmaKhoury.com

Mystery/Thriller

First Place

The Girl with the Face of the Moon by Ellis Amdur, EdgeworkBooks.com

Honorable Mentions

Cobra Pose by Susan Rogers and John Roosen, SusanERogers.com

Final Belongings by Sarah Beauchemin, SarahBeaucheminWriter.com

The Sinful by G. W. Allison, GWAllison.com

The Starlet Letter by Julie Mathison, JulieMathison.com

Narrative Nonfiction

First Place

Crew of Three: How Bold Dreams and Detailed Plans Launched Our Family’s Sailing Adventure by Kimberly Ward, KimberlyJWardwriter.com

Honorable Mentions

Barbwire, Brothels and Bombs in the Night: Surviving Vietnam by Connard Hogan, ConnardHogan.com

CLOSE TO HOME: Sexual Abusers and Serial Killers, Memoir and Murder by Janine O’Neill, JanineONeill.com

In Death’s Shadow by David Branham, DavidMBranham.com

You Matter More Than You Think by Phil Williams, PhilWBooks.com

Prescriptive/Informative Nonfiction

First Place

Paint, Sweat, and Tears: 150 Days on the Appalachian Trail by Carolyn Matthews-Daut, CarolynDaut.com

Honorable Mentions

Into the Fire: The Life, Love, and Revelation of Dragon Parenting by Deborah Ackerman

Living All In: How to Show Up for the Life You Want by Chris Janssen, ChrisJanssenCoaching.com

Reflections: On Time, Culture, and Spirits in America by Dennis McCarty

Visual Impact: Quick, Easy Tools for Thinking in Pictures by Wendi Pillars, SketchMoreThinkMore.com/author

Romance

First Place

Everything in Between by Emma Wilde, EmilyKnowles-Artist.com

Honorable Mention

The Little Tea Room on River Road by Susan Lute, SusanLute.com

Science Fiction

First Place

Cloudthinker by Andrew McGlinchey, Cloudthinker.xyz./

Honorable Mentions

Ash and Sun by Jonny Thompson, JonnyOnThePage.com

THE INSTITUTE Stolen Case Files by T.S. Galindo

Young Adult

First Place

Into the Black by Brian Work, BrianWork.com

Honorable Mentions

Social Vampire by James Schannep, JamesSchannep.com

The Valley of Stars by Yona Katz, YonaKatz.com

The post Announcing the 11th Annual Self-Published E-book Awards Winners appeared first on Writer's Digest.

Prompt: Write a short story of 650 words or fewer based on the photo prompt above. You can be poignant, funny, witty, etc.; it is, after all, your story.

Email your submission to yourstorycontest@aimmedia.com with the subject line “Your Story 119.”

No attachments, please. Include your name and mailing address. Entries without a name or mailing address with be disqualified.

Unfortunately, we cannot respond to every entry we receive, due to volume. No confirmation emails will be sent out to confirm receipt of submission. But be assured all submissions received before entry deadline are considered carefully. Official Rules

Entry Deadline: CLOSED

Out of over 100 entries, WD editors chose the following 5 finalists. Vote for your favorite entry using the poll at the bottom of the page.

Firenze

As Flori opened the shutters to catch the morning sun her cell phone chirruped. Seeing the name she almost smiled while swiping to connect.

“Good morning, Selma.”

“It’s evening here. You really did it, then?”

“I’m well, thank you. And you? … Did what, exactly?”

“Moved halfway around the world without telling anyone.”

“Not precisely. I moved, but Italy is only about a quarter of the way around the world. And I left you a detailed voicemail over a month ago.”

“Well I just got it.”

No, you just bothered to listen to it, Flori thought, pulling a chair over so she could drink in the view of the Duomo sparkling in the distance.

“I can’t believe you moved without a thought for me or Nash or Paris. Really Auntie Flo, I thought…”

“What? That I needed your approval? It doesn’t work that way, Selly.” Flori sank into the chair and lifted her bare feet to the windowsill.

“You know I hate to be called Selly,” Selma snapped.

“And you’ve known for some time that I prefer to be called Flori, and yet here we are.”

Total silence on the line. A small bird flew up and perched on the sill next to Flori’s foot. How convenient if the call dropped now, she thought.

“I’m sorry, Auntie Flo..ri but really I… I’m so surprised and hurt… we’re all surprised and hurt that you would do this to us. We worry about you.”

“Really? Precisely how is my decision to move to Italy hurtful to you?”

“But…”

Flori held up her hand even though Selma couldn’t see it. “Still talking. Furthermore, if this is so distressing to your brother and sister, who I also called weeks ago, they can contact me themselves. Now, do elaborate about why you’re suddenly so worried about me?” The bird cocked its head and flew off.

“Well, moving away from your family at your age doesn’t seem wise. Plus selling everything without considering that there might be some things of Grandma’s that we might want.”

Murmurs of the wakening neighborhood wafted in on the breeze. “Ah, I see.” Her sister Beverly would never be dead while Selma was above ground, Flori thought, shifting in her chair. “On the day of your grandmother’s funeral three years ago, you and Paris announced you would like certain things of hers. A bit insensitive, perhaps, seeing as how I was trying to come to grips with my mother’s death. But I said – very graciously, I think – I’d be willing to discuss this with you the next time you came to the house. That never happened because none of you – my so-called family – have visited or called me in the past three years.”

More silence. Flori decided not to fill it. It was Selma’s dime, as they used to say. She uncrossed her ankles and crossed them the other way.

Just as she was beginning to think the call really had dropped, Selma said, “Well… the pandemic… my sense of time… I didn’t think it had been that long. And you never called either.”

“No, I didn’t,” Flori said. “I guess I thought that your deep concern for your ancient relative who lived alone would prompt you to call me.” The bird reappeared, twittered, and flew off. “Apparently I was mistaken.”

“But we love you!”

A door closed nearby. “Well you have an interesting way of showing it. Anyway, I sent you a note with my current address. If you want to visit, there are many wonderful Air BnBs in Florence. Now I’m sure you’re busy so I’ll let you go. Ciao, Selma, buona sera!”

Flori disconnected as Paolo appeared at her elbow carrying cappuccino and pastries from the local panetteria. “Per te, cara.”

“Grazie, tesoro.” Flori smiled, tilting her head to meet the young man’s kiss.

Avenue de Manzanita

Marcus sat on a simple wooden chair that he had placed not quite on the balcony of his small apartment. He had just enough view to gaze out but not be easily seen. He didn’t want to be seen anyway. He hadn’t wanted to for a long time.

The Avenue de Manzanita sprawled out five stories below him as it swept down into the valley into the heart of the city and eventually to the river. The manzanita shrubs the street was named for long ago had slowly given way to tall buildings, brick sidewalks, and pavement. The few trees left along at least this stretch of the road had once been manicured and well kept but now were scrawny and scraggly.

Marcus poured another shot, or was it two, into the glass on the small folding table at his side. A table, a chair, a bed. Nothing else in the room. He needed nothing else. He’d gotten rid of all of it years ago.

“Wasteful,” he said, swallowing the whiskey quickly, spilling a little of it on his chin, which he didn’t bother to wipe away. No one would visit him today anyway except perhaps for that damn-fooled busybody who lived across the hall. What she saw in him he could never figure out. He’d tried so many times to offend her as much as possible but she just didn’t take the hint.

“Wasteful,” he said again.

Marcus could just make out the latest installment of the on-going argument in one of the tenement apartments off to his right. Ricky was drunk again and Maria was upset and yelling at him about taking care of the family and being responsible. After all, they were his kids. A plate crashed against a wall. A door slammed shut. Ricky had probably just escaped again. Maria was a pleasant enough young woman who had made the mistake of loving a loser and bearing his children.

Another shot of whiskey poured and then quickly drained.

The low buzzing of a busy street in a city that was bigger than it needed to be. The smell of exhaust, the smell of heat and sweat. The smell of long days with nothing to do but stare at the Avenue de Manzanita where there was too much to look at but nothing to see.

How easy it would be to bemoan “the good old days” but the truth was they had never been there. Marcus wasn’t even sure that the Avenue de Manzanita had ever actually had shrubs and trees and grass along it. He couldn’t remember them anymore.

He could remember living down there, though, and playing in those streets and running into traffic. He could remember the horns honking as angry drivers tried to avoid the people also crawling along the streets. He could remember the small food stand that his grandfather and then his father ran a couple blocks away from where he now lived. He could remember the argument with his father when he told him that he wasn’t going to take over the “family business”. He had bigger dreams. He was going to be somebody. He was going to get away from this Avenue and this neighborhood and this city and these people.

Was!

There was a knock on the door. “Marcus, dear. Are you in there? Mind if I come in for a visit?”

Was he in here? Marcus wasn’t sure anymore.

Untitled 1

The smell of baking bread and freshly brewed espresso clung to the cool morning air, waves of steam spiraled through the breeze as it rose from the street cafes below and crept up through the open window of an apartment above where Martino was taking a deep breath to calm his nerves.

His hands, steadied now, gripped the body of his camera more firmly as he gently rested the telephoto lens on the window frame and took a knee. Placing his eye against the view finder, Martino methodically exhaled his lungful of breath, failing to appreciate or even notice the pleasant array of aromas he’d imbibed.

“That’s your problem,” his wife had said. “You’re incapable of seeing beauty anymore.”

Maybe she was right, he thought. Maybe he had never acquired that skill to begin with. But he’d had other skills, far more marketable skills. He was a paid snoop. His job wasn’t to see beauty, it was to take pictures of people in the midst of their indiscretions and supply the photographic evidence to the suspicious spouse. He knew first hand that things that had the appearance of beauty, such as a happy couple out for a stroll, were capable of hiding the most astounding deceit. While others might see it as a beautiful image of love, he knew first-hand the type of deception that hid behind such a facade.

Waiting for his subjects to appear, he viewed the scene with a careful eye, picking apart every piece of beauty on the street below.

His wife, he knew, had suffered under the weight of his gaze. The little imperfections in her features that he used to find so attractive had started to repulse him. The crooked shape of her mouth when she smiled…

When was the last time he had seen her smile? She was unhappy with him, he understood that. He may even bear the brunt of the blame for her misery. Whatever the case may be, however, the simple fact of the matter was that her unhappiness was ugly to him.

How long had this gone on? Had he ever found her beautiful? All those years ago, when they met, on a street very much like the one he viewed through his camera, had he not been capable of seeing her beauty?

The whining hum of a vespa speeding up the road brought his attention back to his work. He watched as the driver swerved, narrowly avoiding a tabby cat stretched out in the road. The cat opened its eyes briefly, looked up at Martino and gave him an indifferent look, before turning its back to him.

Through the aim of the camera, fixed as it was on the cafe across the street, a sizable spider could be seen dutifully putting the finishing touches on a web that hung between the door and the wall, only to see the tapestry torn apart when the door swung open.

Despite all of his experience and his breathing exercises, Martino couldn’t help but feel his body tense into an aching knot. He’d read that “snapshot” was originally a hunting term, and that’s exactly what he felt like: a hunter about to make a kill. His finger rested on the button, but he pressed it as though he was pulling a trigger. A tall and handsome young man emerged, an unseen woman trailing behind him, as Martino fired off several pictures.

Later, when Martino examined the spoils of his hunt, the freeze-frames of the man he’d been following for the better part of a week revealed that he was accompanied by a woman whose happiness was undeniable. She had a strand of hair covering her eyes, but there was no hiding how piercing they were.

Her smile, big and crooked as it was, was so beautiful that Martino could barely hold back his tears as he deleted the pictures.

 SHORT STORY #119

“Sad.”

Jay looked at his companion, lounging half on, half off their high perch overlooking the city.

Roused from his torpid state, the other looked back at Jay. “Huh?” he replied.

“I said it’s sad.”

“What’s sad?”

“Look at that city beneath us. So empty. Remember the days when the streets fairly teemed with life. And now, nothing. Barely a single person scrambling about.”

“Yeah. I guess it is kinda sad.”

“I mean, all those lives lost. All those dreams crushed. If they had only paid attention to the world around them, instead of focusing on their own puny lives. Imagine if they had all banded together to react to the threat they faced. If they had put aside their petty differences and worked together.” He turned to look at his friend. “They might even have been able to thrive a bit longer.” Jay sat there for a moment, slowly shaking his head.

“What’s it to you, my friend?” replied his companion.

“I don’t know. Just looking at all those empty streets, I guess. Imagining all the work that went into the construction of this city. Thinking about all the promise their builders looked forward to creating.”

Jay’s companion hitched himself up and gave a deep-throated chuckle. “Well, I guess it’s a little late for their what-if’s, don’cha think?”

Jay sighed.“Yes, I suppose you’re right. But there must be a lesson in there somewhere.”

He roused himself from his perch on the rooftop and began to climb down to street level, his companion close behind. Reaching the street, the two friends began to make their way through the silent chasm formed by the buildings around them. The streets were littered with the detritus of daily living; windblown newsprint tumbling down the roadway, discarded fast food wrappers flapping in the breeze, vehicles abandoned and beginning to rust.

They looked into the storefronts, their plate glass windows shattered, their store shelves empty. In one, the lights still flickered and the clacking sound of metal against metal drew their attention inward. Climbing over the remaining shards, the two friends explored the empty aisles until they found the source of the sound, a ceiling fan banging against a partially collapsed support of the suspended ceiling. But nothing moving. No signs of life.

Shaking their heads in disgust, they made their way back to the front of the store and climbed back out.

“Not much left to scavenge, amigo.”

Jay shook his head sadly.“I’m afraid not.”

They continued their way down the broad thoroughfare. The signs of the natural world beginning to reclaim it’s own were everywhere. Small plants beginning to push up through cracks in the sidewalk. Small rodents scurrying from one sewer cap to another, nervously scanning the landscape.

Jay pointed at one of the creatures. “See. They know how to survive. They take nothing for granted. They work together. And they will likely survive longer and more effectively than any of this city’s residents were able to do.” Another pause. “And why? Because they know what the inhabitants of this city did not. That despite all of their fancy accomplishments, their inventions, their technologies, the people who lived here couldn’t adapt. They couldn’t take threats to their security seriously. They always figured that their technology would protect them.” Another sad shake of his head.

His friend gave a low chortle. “Guess they were wrong. Huh, partner?”

They walked on a little further.

Suddenly out of the corner of his eye, Jay caught a brief glimpse of movement at the next intersection. Silently signaling his friend, they hurried to the spot in time to see the shadow disappear into a building.

The green alien carnivore turned to his friend and smiled, his teeth gleaming in the bright sun. “A little one. I guess that’s all that’s left at this point. But just about the right size for a snack.”

Untitled 2

I am actually here, standing in the same place my grandma stood when she took that picture all those years ago. Apartment 26D of the Mayberry apartment complex. The complex sits vacant now, however I can still sense the last occupant’s presence, and smell their cigarettes that stained the walls. Looking out the window I can see what she saw: a city full of hope and promise. She would’ve said, “Well dear, it almost looks the same, save for the peeling paint and the cable dishes.” Same tall buildings, so tall they almost crowd out the street. But Grandma isn’t with me to make any comparisons. And the picture she took is now hanging on my wall, with a reserved spot next to it, for this picture.

I used to stare at that picture on her wall and make up stores of all the people who lived in the buildings, of all the people just out of view walking on the street. I would look at that picture with wonder and imagination. Grandma would look at that picture with sadness, of a time long past.

“That picture, so you want it?” my mother had asked, as if she had to. Her tone held an edge of annoyance, she must have repeated herself. I had been holding that picture, staring at it as I once did as a child, getting lost in my own thoughts. Now just a piece of decoration that was unwanted, something for us to “deal with” as we clean out grandma’s house. The funny thing is, Grandma wouldn’t care what we did with it, she didn’t hold value to things.

“Memories are priceless, Julie, don’t ever forget that. Everything, every possession, can be replaced,” she had said to me, more than once over my lifetime. And I believed her. She had to start over when she came to America, a young girl with her parents and older brother, Sam. Starting with only the money hid in their shoes and the clothes they could carry on them, as they could not afford to pay for luggage. Sam was killed not long after he started work on the docks. Grandma’s time in the Mayberry apartment complex was not the best time of her life, but it was the start of her American life. “I would do it again, if given the change,” she had said, “after getting through the rough times, life was rather smooth. And don’t forget, I met your grandfather here,” she would smile the biggest smile when she talked about Grandpa; “and don’t ever be afraid to try something new, even if it means giving up everything to do it.”

So I kept that picture, to remind me of her advice. Now next to it, is the picture I took, to remind me of a starting point, as I start new adventures wherever I can find them. 

The post Your Story #119 appeared first on Writer's Digest.

In-Between

by Alyssa Rickert

I lay my blanket down on the grass and slowly lower myself onto it. One knee down, then the other, then both hands until I flop over onto my side. And breathe. The autumn sky is so blue, with the wispiest of clouds stretching out from behind Castle Crags.

I might look alone but I’m not. Tiny hiccups bouncing around inside me remind me that there’s a boy, a very little boy, hopelessly close but invisible to me. And the gravestones around me are markers of bodies all around that lived full lives, bodies that carried hopes and dreams and love and anger. There’s one body, deep in the grass beneath me, that I know so well.

This body’s hands held me as a baby, this body’s voice sang to me the sweetest songs. This body charged into giant ocean waves alongside me and swam out to get me when the tides tried to rip me away. This body’s eyes are green. And those green eyes saw the world and put those hands to good use and found a way to put that voice to bring peace. This body had a heart so big and a heart so strong that it beat out the loudest song until one day, it stopped.

That body is close, it’s right there, just 6 feet underneath me. I can’t see the body, but through my memories, I can see the body’s life. I can’t see the life of this new little body inside me yet. I don’t know what his voice will sound like, what work his hands will do. What color will his eyes be? I hope he loves the ocean.

These two bodies are just 6 feet away, and these two bodies are worlds apart. One body leaving, one body coming, and then there’s my body in-between. My own green eyes can see the blue sky. My own hands are dry and cracked from the work I’ve found. My heart beats strong with longing, both for the tiny heart drumming inside me and for the bigger heart that lays quiet. I long to be held by one, and long to hold the other.

The blanket is wet now, from the dew seeped up from the Earth and the tears poured down from love. I put both hands on the ground, then one foot, and with a grunt, finally stand up. It’s hard to say if my spirit or my joints hurt more.

It’s time to leave now. I’ll carry one body with me, the other will stay stagnate under the grass. Soon the little body will become separate from me. For a while his fresh eyes will see what I see. His small hands will hold onto mine as we charge into the ocean. I’ll sing him songs and hold him close. I’ll cherish those times until they end.

Eventually, my son’s eyes will start to search for sites beyond me. His hands will reach out for work, and a new kind of love. His body will go away from me to find purpose. And my body will be left behind, without him close, separated from his body by miles just as it is separated from my father’s body by earth.

Once again I will appear to be alone. But even as I take steps away from my father’s grave and breathe through the tightening in my belly, I know I could never be truly alone. I am the memory keeper of all the life I lived with my dad. I am the hope harnesser for the future of my son. The invisible force of love beats stronger than a heart of any size. Three bodies, three people, three lives. One gone, one coming, and me. Just me, carrying the honor of being the in-between.

See the full list of winners here!

The post In-Between: Writer’s Digest 2nd Annual Personal Essay Awards Winner appeared first on Writer's Digest.

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Grand Prize

Walks With the Wind by Steve Physioc, StevePhysioc.com

Contemporary Fiction

First Place

Driftless by Ardys Brevig Richards, AardysBrevigRichards.blogspot.com

Honorable Mentions

Backstory: Behind the Scenes of a Famous Film-Thriller by Pat Dunlap Evans ($5.99 Kindle; $12.99 Paperback, A.M. Chai Literary), PatDunlapEvans.com

Safelight by Casey Lown ($2.99 Kindle; $11.99 Paperback, Casey Lown), CaseyLown.com

Going Home by Win and Meredith Blevins ($0.99 Kindle; $8.99 Paperback, WordWorx Publishing)

A Legacy of One by Kevin G. Chapman ($3.99 Kindle; $12.99 Paperback, CreateSpace Publishing), KevingChapman.com

Fantasy

First Place

Choose the Sun by Kent Safford, KentSafford.com

Honorable Mention

Guardian of Chaos by Michelle Manus ($4.99 Kindle; $14.99 Paperback, Seclusion Publishing), MichelleManus.com

Mystery/Thriller

First Place

Dark Cure by Cameron K. Moore 

Honorable Mentions

Dead Tree Tales by Rush Leaming ($4.99 Kindle; $16.88 Paperback, Bridgewood), LeamingRush.wixsite.com/nightfall

Where Loyalty Lies by Edward Belton ($2.99 Kindle; $21.66 Paperback, Booklocker.com, Inc.)

The Quisling Factor by J. L. Oakley ($4.99 Kindle; $18.95 Paperback, Fairchance Press), JLOakleyAuthor.com

AESOP by Michele Packard ($2.99 Kindle; $9.99 Paperback, Michele Packard), MichelePackard.com

Narrative Nonfiction

First Place

Memoirs of a Counselor: My Life in South Africa by Chloe Timothy, ChloeTimothy.com

Honorable Mentions

Still Laughin’ by Dara Kalima ($8.99 Kindle; $20.99 Paperback, Dara Kalima), DaraKalima.com

My View from the Back of the Bus by Merritt Long ($9.99 Kindle; $23 Paperback, My View LLC)

OiseauxWords: Grew-Some Man-i-festations by Bernadette “Bird” Bowen ($9.99 Kindle, Bernadette “Bird” Bowen)

Prescriptive/Informative Nonfiction

First Place

The Ever-Fixed Mark: Shakespeare on Love, Women, and Human Nature by Thomas Brackshaw

Honorable Mentions

Food, Body and Love: But the Greatest of These is Love by Kari Anderson ($4.99 Kindle; $19.95 Paperback, Kari Anderson), MyEatingDoctor.com

Braving the World: Adventures in Travel and Retirement by Pam Saylor ($4.99 Kindle; $15.99 Paperback, KDP), PamSaylor.com

Holy Smoke: How Christianity Smothered the True American Dream by Rick Snedeker ($6.99 Kindle; $11 Paperback, Station Square Media), RickSnedekerAuthor.com

Romance

First Place

Charming and the Cherry Blossom by LJ Evans, LJEvansbooks.com

Honorable Mention

Siren’s Song by Michelle Manus ($2.99 Kindle; $14.99 Paperback, Seclusion Publishing), MichelleManus.com

Science Fiction

First Place

In the Garden of Mistress Bloom by Clé Curbo

Honorable Mention

I, Cassandra by E. A. Carter ($6.99 Kindle; $12.99 Paperback, Arundel House Press), AuthorEACarter.net

Young Adult

First Place

Facing Off by Tanya Ross, TanyaRossAuthor.com

Honorable Mention

Max and the Spice Thieves by John Peragine ($2.99 Kindle; $14.74 Paperbook, Crumblebee Books), JohnPeragineBooks.com

The post Announcing the 9th Annual Self-Published E-book Awards Winners appeared first on Writer's Digest.