All posts by Tim

DANIEL GARCIA: Some Nights (or, When Your Rapist Goes to Treatment Instead of Prison)

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Some nights, you wonder if he took you to treatment with him.

Some nights, you wonder if he thinks of you. If so, he could pull out pieces he took from you and remember. Maybe he could fashion them into a hand.

That way, he’d never have to let go.

Daniel Garcia is currently a student pursuing a degree in Creative Writing. His work has been featured on or at Write About Now Poetry, Capturing the Corners, the University of North Texas, Mountain View College, Grayson College, and is forthcoming in SUGAR Magazine. Some of his favorite things to do are going to church—and by church he means poetry slams—giving as many hugs as possible, living by the words “You are all that you have,” and falling off the edge of the Earth.

STORY OF THE WEEK: January 8

News

The story of the week for January 2 to 6 is…

2:00 AM by L.S. Engler

L.S. effectively communicated the emotional core of the characters and their relationship without having to describe a series of events, which is a very valuable skill in this format.

2016 Story of the Year Finalists

News

We had a big, interesting year in 2016, filled with hundreds of great 50-word stories. It’s almost time to crown the best story published on 50WS in the past 12 months!

Here are the 12 Story of the Month winners for 2016.

JANUARY: Waiting to be a Good Samaritan, by Paul Beckman
FEBRUARY: Unicorn Heaven, by Brenda Anderson
MARCH: Luck, by Viv Burgess
APRIL: The Shrimp Farmer, by Alexandra Keister
MAY: Alien Nature, by Patrick Yu
JUNE: There Be Monsters, by Eva Lucien
JULY: Aunt Peg, by Jennifer L. Freed
AUGUST: Five minutes until ‘I do’, by Mark Farley
SEPTEMBER: Moving On, by Mark Farley
OCTOBER: Audition, by Magda Knight
NOVEMBER: Palindrome, by Pontius Paiva
DECEMBER: My Fortune, by David Rae

The winner, as chosen by editor Tim Sevenhuysen, will be announced on Saturday, January 14!

The prize for the Story of the Year winner will be:

  • $50 (Canadian)
  • Enshrinement in the 50WS Hall of Fame

Which finalist was your favourite? If you could nominate a story that didn’t earn Story of the Month, which would you pick?

Throwback: In 2015, Bob Thurber won the Story of the Year award with his piece The Mapmaker’s Calligraphist Daughter. In 2016, Guy Preston took the prize with One Job Away From Retirement.

LS ENGLER: 2:00 AM

Submissions, Top Stories, Touching, , ,

Meet me where the setting sun kisses the roof of the lighthouse, I said, that familiar place where we whispered secrets at two in the morning. I needed to be there because I remembered all the things that we had said. She didn’t show up, because she remembered them, too.

L.S. Engler writes from outside of Chicago, though she grew up chasing dragons in Michigan. She is the editor of the World Unknown Review and is currently finishing up a trilogy about zombies called The Slayer Saga.

JON NIXON: No Longer a Pardner

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

“We’ve had enough of your cowboy attitude in the workplace,” the boss said. “You’re fired.”

I glanced at the clock. High noon.

“That’s mighty fine,” I drawled, spitting my tobacco onto the floor.

Holstering my six-shooter, I darn grabbed my Stetson and moseyed on out, heading for the nearest saloon.

Jon is from the Northwest of England and wastes most of his time working in local government, when he really wants to just read and write. He thinks his attitude to his hobby of rustling cattle back at the ranch is more lasso-faire than cowboy. He has recently been told one of his slightly longer worded shorts is to be included in an anthology. A doggone first.

LINDA CAROL NATHANIEL: Tricky

Amusing, Submissions, Touching, , , ,

Emilia passionately claimed that everyone she loved didn’t love her, and vice versa. She knew that true love was tricky, rather like a sort of magic.

Then one day, quite inexplicably, Emilia met Fred. He was busking on a street corner and just happened to pull rabbits out of hats.

Linda is a teacher from Sydney, Australia, who has had plays go from page-to-stage and poems published in both Hemispheres. Once upon a time, she was invited to the same function as Ben Stiller.

SUSAN GALE WICKES: Keeper of the Bones

Adventure, Submissions, , , ,

Hezekiah was “soul” caretaker at the Mount Airy Cemetery. He liked to call himself “the keeper of the bones.”

While he prided himself in the lush, green grass and carefully groomed rows, it was the unmarked grave in Row 38 that had given him the greatest amount of personal satisfaction.

Susan Gale Wickes enjoys writing and daydreaming about where it might lead.

GORDON LYSEN: Happy New Year Grumps

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

It was his birthday. Born seventy years ago on the last day of December. So this is how his year was to end, wracked in pain, body contorted. He always thought he would enjoy retirement, old age, dying gracefully.

He should never have given the kids that stupid Twister game.

Gordon Lysen resides at Sugar Point on Lake Manitoba. Retired from police work after some 27 years, Gordon co-authored the novel “A Deadly Blend of Souls” with his wife, Lisa. Writing and painting are Gordon’s relaxation methods when retirement becomes too stressful.

JOHN H. DROMEY: Guilty Pleasures

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

To test the old saying ‘misery loves company,’ Henry subscribed to a binge-watchable streaming video service, rented a humongous flat screen TV, and hired a caterer.

The first weekend in January, with dieting and exercise strictly prohibited, Henry and his party guests broke their New Year’s resolutions in record time.

John H. Dromey has had short fiction published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Crimson Streets, Stupefying Stories Showcase, and elsewhere.

STORY OF THE MONTH: December 2016

News

The Story of the Month is chosen from the Story of the Week winners announced from the past month.

The finalists for December were:

My Fortune by David Rae
Choice by A. Elizabeth Herting
Buried in the Meadowlands by Bob Thurber
Pieces in Place by Raphael Bastek
The Weight by Kimberly Edwards

The winner of the December 2016 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…

My Fortune

There was so much reality, art, and message packed into this month’s stories. I honour and appreciate Bob and Kimberly, especially, for sharing their hearts with us. At the end of the day, I’m awarding David for his brilliantly executed anticlimax and character work.