Special Issue: 2022 New Flash Fiction Prize
This year’s judge, Leonora Desar, has chosen a winner and three runner-up entries and we are happy to also have 5 other stories from our shortlist in this year’s Prize Issue.
Morse Code by Elizabeth Cabrera
The old man fell asleep in his car, his nostrils pressed softly against the steering wheel, but the car kept going, because the old man’s foot was not asleep, was still pressing down hard, and later they would say, it’s not really his fault, he’s such an old man.
Electric Storm by Kathryn Aldridge-Morris
It’s been twenty minutes since the first bolt of lightning ripped a scar through the purple night sky. Since my mother said to swim in the rain ― it’s fun. Since her boyfriend Colin said he’d join us― to check we’re ok.
The Wonder of a Sea Sponge by Marina Hatsopoulos
Offstage, I pick flowers from my curls and accept congratulations from soccer team-mates, AP Bio geeks, the francophones from Spring Break in Paris, the overachievers from the boat I cox, and other groups to which I sort of belong, but not really.
I’ll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours by Eliot Li
I tell you I’ve only ever shown it to a girl who I met on a tour bus in Moscow, where I was traveling with my parents. She had bad acne, and she really liked Duran Duran.