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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#230: In a Flash

I’ve been reading a lot of flash fiction recently. It’s a great format for close study, as its compression forces writers to question the function of every sentence.

Since there are many lessons to be learned from reading, writing, and thinking about flash fiction, I thought we could make it the focus of this week’s contest. To be clear, this contest accepts stories between 1,000 and 3,000 words, but this week, I’m inviting you to try and stay as close to the lower limit as you can. Our usual word count range is still the official guideline, and stories that are closer to 3,000 words will not be disqualified — but I hope that with flash stories in mind, you’ll feel inspired to be as economical with language as possible.

Not sure how to begin? Check out our best tips for writing flash fiction.

This week's prompts

Write a story framed by a single scene: something happens, a flashback or inner monologue intervenes, and then the story ends with the rest of the original scene.

Narrative – 89 stories

Write a story in which a character achieves a new level of clarity about how they’re really feeling.

Character – 56 stories

Start your story with someone uttering a very strange sentence.

Dialogue – 52 stories

Write a story that hides something from its reader until the very end.

Mystery – 100 stories

Write a story in the form of a list.

Narrative – 60 stories

Stories

“The Gravity of Words” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #230

The day that gravity stopped working for words, Shawn climbed the fire escape to the roof of his walk-up apartment and screamed at the top of his lungs. He could feel the vibration of the sounds leaving his throat, but the scream never reached his ears. The heads of the pedestrians on the street below did not turn. No one could hear him screaming.Shawn had a deadline on his new EP. He was determined to record two new tracks for his album that afternoon, but it seemed that the world had other plans. How does one make music, when they can’t he...

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“The Six Must Decide: Quetzalcoital or Drext?” by Robert Egan

Submitted to Contest #230

"Leave me quetzalcoital with your Hemingway-six!" the bearded lady roared. These were the perfect words with which to begin the meeting, which was why she was the boss. Her "Hemingway-six" echoed across the labyrinthine cave, fluttered feathered serpent–like across six pairs of ears, and crafted wind jewels across entangled neurons. The effect was neither sensuous nor sensual. It was quetzalcoital, and all six in the cave knew it at once. The bearded lady and her five confrères were the only ones who knew about the cave. It was their ov...

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“Too-Cute Mix-Up” by Mary Bendickson

Submitted to Contest #230

Too-Cute Mix-Up Chrissy tucked Carlson under a multi-colored quilt before he said his prayers. “What story do you want me to read to you? 'Frosty, the Snowman' or 'Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer'.” “'Frosty', please.” Sleepy-eyed Carlson responded. The visiting five-year-old was sound asleep before 'Frosty' melted away to return another year. And it was no wonder. Chrissy reflected on what their day had been like. *** Hard to believe it was only last evening when the two of them had met at the Harbor House Restaurant. Chrissy, having had ...

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“The Orchid ” by A. Torrecilha

Submitted to Contest #230

Hi dad, I want to start by apologizing for not writing any sooner. But believe me, you will soon understand why. How are things lately? I recently drove by a flower shop and saw some beautiful poppies, they were such a vibrant shade of red. Then I remembered they are grandma’s favorites, how is she doing? Send her a hug for me. Grandma always has that unique scent, you know the one, that sweet aroma of pears mixed with the freshness of recently baked cookies. I could have sworn I felt it while I was walking down the park the other day, I e...

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“Sarcasm and Sorrow” by Chris Glazdon

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #230

"You signed the divorce papers last week. Tell me about that."Anne rolled her head back to look at this ceiling, knowing this question would arise in therapy. "There's not much to tell. We went, we signed, it's finished.""That seems very business-like,” Dr. Flynn mentioned, setting down her tea from the table between the two women."Well, that's me, Doc. All business, no fluff.”"Oh, I know. My self-assured, dare I say, cocky patient. With a chip on her shoulder.""Sounds right.""And an empty life she fills with busy, busy work.""You know for a...

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“A Funeral” by AnneMarie Miles

Submitted to Contest #230

“It’s just you and me again,” I say.I’d waited until the flock of my relatives had dispersed, and finally, I am alone at his casket. His pale face looks at peace, and it makes him almost unrecognizable. I’m used to the anger, the depression, the mask of whatever vice he could find.On his lapel, someone, my mother I assume, has issued him a rose. I scoff at the symbol of love. That word, that feeling, had been foreign to Floyd, absent in every corner of his life. No matter how hard I tried to love him, I was nothing but a worthless, unwanted,...

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“January 1973 - A List Written by a Northern Irish Mother” by Keelan LaForge

Submitted to Contest #230

Don’t forget to: Take the decorations down, wrap them in tissue paper and box them up to be stowed away under the stairs until next year. Carefully take down the crepe paper decorations so they don’t tear. Keep the Christmas cards and fill out the address book with anyone we missed this year. Send belated Happy New Year cards to any we did forget. Get some iced fingers from the bakery for whenever Joan calls round for a cup of tea. Get fruit soda for breakfast and a Belfast bap to go with some stew this week. Pay the milkman and the ...

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“Checklist for Time Travel” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #230

1. WWDBD: What Would Doc Brown Do?2. Polaroid picture of yourself surrounded by immediate family members3. Men’s lightweight packable puffer jacket in red4. Pick-up lines proven to work on Margot Robbie (P.S. Make sure the writing room has determined that these really work, no time to waste here)5. If Rachel McAdams is your wife in an alternate timeline, don’t screw up that timeline—also, why is Rachel McAdams always the wife in...

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“8%” by James Lane

Submitted to Contest #230

Targets acquired:One male, 67 years old. One female, 11 years old. One male, 7 years old.No weapons detected.Their heat signatures tell me they’re underground. Below the canopy and beneath the earth, they’ve evaded me for years. But today, as I throw open the hatch to their hovel and look into their desperate eyes, I know I’ve found victory.“To hell with you, you soulless murderer!”The old man throws a brick at me, and it smashes off my arm. I laugh. Thirty-nine percent of human laughter is a response to a surprise, twenty-one perc...

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“Us” by Alice Brooks

Submitted to Contest #230

And there it was.Life, crumbling around us, going up in flames, devouring us. Burning our lungs with smoke, it must have not only been the material things around us that were filling the air with a vibrant, pungent smell, but the fire within us, one that may have never burnt as brightly as I had prayed for it to.For a moment I had allowed myself to believe that it would have been fine in the end, that we could’ve prevailed. Just for a moment, I had made it seem possible to myself that we weren’t doomed to die. Not like this, not ever.But as ...

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“A Light-Brown Birthmark” by Darya Silman

Submitted to Contest #230

... another maggot entered my skull through an eye socket. I could feel its slimy body penetrate the damp, rich soil within me. My skull would become its home for a long time..."Literature can go to places where love doesn't exist and create love out of nothing." Teacher Tamm's high-pitched voice dominated the classroom. My clumsy, too-skinny body was there - my mind was not. I could give everything away for touching one light-brown birthmark. ...Anastasia. She sat in the last row alone, with nobody ever trying to talk to her. I drew he...

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“Reasons to Live” by Hannah Lynn

Submitted to Contest #230

(TW – depression, suicidal thoughts)---Reasons to not kill myself – Dec 22, 19811. It would ruin Christmas for my family.---Reasons to not kill myself – Dec 23, 19811. It would destroy my mother.Even though I once told my mother I was considering killing myself and she didn’t take me seriously, it is still the only reason I can think of to not actually do it. It would destroy her. And she doesn’t deserve that. It does seem a bit pointless to stay alive for the sole purpose of another person who doesn’t ev...

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“Captive Flame (E)” by Khadija S. Mohammad

Submitted to Contest #230

"She didn't kill them on purpose," Wynter shouted at her sister.Summer rolled her eyes. "And how do you know that? You weren't there, were you?""No, but - but what if she didn't know? She didn't know what an Ever was, what if it's different in her world? If her people aren't Linked then how was she to know that our lives are stored in Evergreen needles? How was -"Summer interrupted her. "I don't get you at all! You knew her for less than an hour and you're completely convinced that she's an unwitting murderer of 700 people.""Of course I am! ...

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“The Cellmate” by Zoë Irene

Submitted to Contest #230

“What are you in for?” A long, skinny body relaxed on the flat twin mattress against the right wall. That left me to infer the unwelcoming mattress to the left was mine. I ignored my new slender roommate and walked over to the left. I let out a sigh and sat down on the bed to face the middle of the room. I took in the whole scene, which wasn’t much. Tiny tin sink. Tiny, stained mirror above it. Tiny tin toilet. Cold, hard floor. Cold, dark w...

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“Dilemma” by Bill VanPatten

Submitted to Contest #230

Killing is easy. Disposing of the body is the hard part. As Shane contemplated the corpse in his living room, he wished he’d thought the whole thing through. But then, impulse and passion never formed the bedrock of rational thought for anyone, had they? And he was certainly no expert. This was his first time. He hadn’t even meant to do it. Well, not quite. He’d considered it on occasion, the way a person might consider a new career—something you thought about from the comfort of your La-Z-Boy with a beer in one hand and the remote control ...

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$250

Prize money

357

Contest entries

108

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 29, 2023 EST

Won by Ethan Zimmerman 🏆

Title: The Lop-it-off-a-me List

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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