And the Editors’ Choice Is… “Zero Masterpiece” by Richard Edenfield Congratulations to Richard for winning the “Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing” series! One of the books in that series is “The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction”. If you want to improve your writing, this book is a good place…
Writing Contest - Issue 6
Below you will find all stories that were submitted for this contest.
Nora’s Toaster
By Prospero Dae
I love my toaster. I so look forward to getting up and having breakfast with you. And it isn’t the orange marmalade that is making my life so good—I’m using the same brand. No it’s the toaster. But lately dark clouds are forming and I’m growing weary. My toast is as cold as a marble…
Yes
By Prospero Dae
He walked to the store, paid for an icy cherry soda, and left the cashier a large tip. Then he continued to the shoe store where he thought he’d buy himself some comfortable loafers, but the place was closed. He strolled passed the pearl-gray house where a tiny dog, Titan, always barked chirpily—but he wasn’t…
Drawing Closer
By Nathan Sampey
The Countess of Cold was cross indeed. The Warbler had failed her again. The girl was treading on her snow, drawing closer with each crunching step. Even sitting safe in her white spire, the Countess could feel her terrible warmth approaching, and feared it. Her sing-song man sang empty excuses. His voice, once a pleasure,…
Yellow Swans
By Matthew Mahaney
Edison’s wife became infertile from handling his various light bulb prototypes. A fertility test, hastily conceived by Edison and consisting of a spring-loaded scale, two hypodermic syringes, and several feet of gauze, confirmed this. While the impossibility of children was a strain, what eventually drove her to leave was the faint, persistent hum of electric…
Fire and Forget
By Matthew Young
The muzzle velocity of an M16A4 service rifle is three thousand one hundred ten feet per second. We know this from basic training, from infantry school, from our workup. Engulfed in heavy dawn light near the gurgling Euphrates, among date palms and thick grasses, we stand around a dying man. A corpsman presses bandages on…
Death in THX Sound
By Richard Edenfield
The RKO movie palace hangs as jewelry on Main Street in New Rochelle, New York; the title crowned with marquee illumination as glass door slippers shine forward transforming all who entered into royalty. The long dead echo of crowds haunts with footsteps tapping on marble as red velvet curtains slide like a sheet over eyes…