We are excited to announce the winners of the Stories (Within) Flash Fiction Contest!
To celebrate the launch of Stories (Within), an experimental anthology of stories inside stories inside stories, we hosted the Stories (Within) Flash Fiction Contest. Writers were asked to write a 50 word piece of flash fiction which told a story within a story (no easy task in such a tight constraint), and we receieved some wonderful submissions. Here are the winners!
(Drumroll, please.)
Third Place: "The Fox" by Heather S. Ransom
Brad’s hands grip mine.
The diamond on my finger sparkles. “You ran from that bitchy old woman, that socialite cow, and that horse-faced prima donna, but I caught you. You know, honey, like the Gingerbread Man.”
Brad’s hands go limp. His eyes go vacant.
It’s good to be the Fox.
Second Place: "The Devil Came Down" by J.L. Henker
Johnny stopped playing his fiddle and wiped sweat from his brow. He blinked in surprise as a man in a black suit and white shirt appeared next to him on the dusty bench.
“What ya doing dressed like that?” Johnny said, “It’s hotter than hell.”
The man grinned. “I know.”
First Place: "True Courage" by Michael Bernstein
The trees play games with my eyes looking like they could move any moment. I wonder if Macbeth would envision such fearing Birnam woods encroachment on Dunsinane. Nevertheless, I move into the copse, knowing if I have the courage to call That Scottish Play by name, I can do anything.
Winners, your flash-fiction-sized trophies and copies of Stories (Within) are on their way. Congratulations, and thank you for sharing your talent!
Thank you to our wonderful judges, too!
Judges: Karen Eisenbrey, Debby Dodds and Rick M. Cook
Karen Eisenbrey is the author of the Wizard Girl trilogy, the Rage Brigade duology, the forthcoming cross-over novella Far from Normal (co-authored with LeeAnn McLennan), and short stories in Strongly Worded Women, Shout, and Stories (Within). Learn more about Karen HERE.
Debby Dodds is the author of Amish Guys Don’t Call and has stories and essays in Strongly Worded Women, Things That You Would Have Said, The Living Dead magazine, The Sun, xoJane, Portland Family Magazine, Manifest-Station.com, FlashesintheDark.com, Stumptown Underground, The Crimson Crane, Zinkzine.com, and twice in Hip Mama. Her humorous essay, “Why Sarah Palin Needs Me as Her SAT Tutor,” was an editor’s pick on Salon.com. She won both Best Humorous Essay and Fan Favorite in The Attic’s contest at Wordstock. Learn more about Debby HERE.
Rick M. Cook: When he’s not writing his debut novel, The Devil’s Bridge, he is working on one real-life science fiction project after another. He writes and teaches software to help top aerospace and automotive designers around the world wire their vehicles: futuristic all-electric airplanes to airplane seats and control modules to Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters to wiring for the advancement of human knowledge with satellites and space telescopes. Rick has been writing software since he was fifteen and telling stories even longer to entertain himself and friends. A Dungeons & Dragons game exposed his teenage mind to the world of imaginative storytelling, sparking his creativity every day since. He enjoys reading books of history, science fiction/fact, fantasy, thrillers, and has enough Wikipedia tabs open to support a small invading alien army’s intel. He lives in Beaverton, Oregon, along with his wife and two bundles of fun masquerading as dogs.