The story of the week for January 22 to 26 is…
A Ring and a Letter by Deborah Tapper
All posts by Tim
SHARON GERGER: You Have My Word
“I love my…. Never mind.”
“Mom, tell me.”
“I can’t remember what it’s called.”
“Point to it and I’ll give you the word.”
“Why don’t you get mad at me like your father does?”
Dad died fifteen years ago. “Died” is not a word I’m going to give her today.
Sharon Gerger lives with three older rescue cats, Edith, Walter and Lucy, her newest family member is the crankiest cat ever but her heart is slowly defrosting and I think she might learn to tolerate Sharon someday.
ANDREAS LITAS: Occupied Toilet
They were great guests. They showed me how they lived peacefully and in harmony with their beautiful nature.
Before leaving their planet, I asked, “How come you have never visited Earth?”
They replied, “If you knew that a toilet was occupied, would you visit it?” Not the answer I expected.
Andreas Litas lives in southern Europe and writes poetry and flash fiction.
NICO CALVANICO: I Met a Man Today
I met an angry man today. “I’ve had it up to here with you!” he said. “Take your pills!”
I met a sad man today. “Please try to remember,” he said. “Please.”
I met a friendly man today. “I’m sorry, Dad,” he said. “I love you. The memories don’t matter.”
Nico Calvanico is a native New Yorker and a student at The New School. After studying performing arts for his entire life, he has decided to pursue something far more lucrative: creative writing.
ANN MARIE POTTER: Marjorie’s Umbrella
I destroyed Marjorie’s umbrella a dozen times: a trip to the library dumpster, to my brother’s Pennsylvania farm and his burn barrel. Every time, it reappeared in the break-room where Marjorie had left it that day she got caught in the sudden rainstorm, the day before she died of pneumonia.
Ann Marie Potter is in her last year of a PhD program at Oklahoma State University while enjoying her first year in the beautiful state of Wyoming. Her work has been published in The Storyteller, The Meadow, Peauxdunque Review, and Literally Stories.
JENNIFER SKOGEN: It Was Just a Dog That Bit Me
I got my rabies shots and everything is fine now. The bite on my hand healed to a silver sickle and everything is perfectly normal again. Hasn’t the moon always pulsed in the sky like a toothache? Hasn’t my skin always buzzed like cicadas swarming?
Haven’t you always looked delicious?
Jennifer Skogen is the author of The Haunting of Grey Hills series, and her work has appeared in Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Luna Station Quarterly, Tales from the Moonlit Path, and Crow & Cross Keys. Jennifer lives near Seattle, Washington, and goes hiking in beautiful places whenever it isn’t raining.
LYNN KOZLOWSKI: Doctoring his Heart
The old man, gulping the evening air, pedals stiffly through the lanes of his project on the streamlined, gearless bicycle from his youth, his bald, thin legs on display and a whistle between his teeth as a horn—having decided to be un-embarrassable before the prospect of a longer life.
Lynn Kozlowski’s writing has appeared in such places as 50-Word Stories, The Quarterly, The Malahat Review, Poetry Breakfast, and failbetter.com. He has a volume of short pieces, Historical Markers.
DEBORAH TAPPER: A Ring And A Letter
Now she understands why he was so preoccupied before the accident. She wears the engagement ring, delays opening the accompanying letter. Sleeps with it under her pillow, jealously hoarding his last precious words until she’s strong enough to read them.
When she does, she finds they’re meant for someone else.
Deborah writes at an old desk surrounded by five hundred pet bugs.
SETH PILEVSKY: Intruder
The front door opened.
I woke up.
I grabbed a golf club and tiptoed down the stairs.
She was waiting for me.
“You left your house keys on my bed.”
“Why are you here?”
I never found out.
My wife, standing behind me, shot the intruder and buried my sin.
Seth Pilevsky’s work has appeared in What Doesn’t Kill You, a YA anthology published by Indomita Press, Maelstrom, The Inner Circle Writers’ Group Literary Anthology 2019, Identity Anthology by ArrowHeart Publishing, Tales of the Strange Anthology by The Writer’s Workout, Stinkwaves Magazine, Long Island Literary Journal, Literally Stories, 50-Word Stories and Memoir Magazine. Sign up for updates at his website, spilevsky.com.
2023 Story of the Year Finalists
Here are the twelve finalists for the 2023 Story of the Year award!
JANUARY: Your Umbrella by Caroline Ashley
FEBRUARY: The Invisible Girl by Nikki Davison
MARCH: Vernacular by Laura Besley
APRIL: Widowmaker by Tim Boiteau
MAY: Woman-ness by Kelli Short Borges
JUNE: The Librarian and the Time Machine by Chelsea Allen
JULY: I watch the bones sink to the bottom by J.C. Pillard
AUGUST: Monday Morning by Brian Maycock
SEPTEMBER: Blink by Keith J. Powell
OCTOBER: Desert Blues in a Minor Key by Jonathan Kosik
NOVEMBER: Medicinal by Meg Pokrass
DECEMBER: Keeping Up Appearances by Lynn Kozlowski
The winner, as chosen by editor Tim Sevenhuysen, will be announced on Sunday, January 28!
The prize for the Story of the Year winner is:
- $50 (Canadian)
- Enshrinement in the 50WS Hall of Fame
Let everyone know your favourite story in the comments!
Throwback: In 2014, Bob Thurber won the Story of the Year award with his piece The Mapmaker’s Calligraphist Daughter. In 2015, Guy Preston took the prize with One Job Away From Retirement. The 2016 winner was Jennifer L. Freed, for Aunt Peg. In 2017, Constellations by Jonathan Kosik won the award. In 2018, Bob Thurber won his second Story of the Year award for The Summer of Sweet Mary (circa 1972). In 2019, Evan McMurry won the Story of the Year for After the Water. The 2020 story of the year was Your Pills by Jennifer L. Freed, for her second win. For 2021, N. West Moss won Story of the Year for A man (not her husband). The 2022 story of the year was Cherry Blossom by Tim Boiteau.