Our eyes met through the glass, a chance that may never come again.
For one short moment we connected. Then just as quickly, she was gone—a graceful, young fawn.
I look for her on clear nights and wonder if she looks for me while eating apples under my tree.
Candace Kubinec posts her stories at storydribbles.wordpress.com and her poetry at rhymeswithbug.com.
There’s something wiggling in her husband’s cheek. At first she thinks it’s his tongue, but it begins to strain against the cheek, pushing outward. She can see that it’s long and narrow, shaped like a human finger.
Her husband bites down and the object retreats backward. He begins to chew.
Ryan Borchers is from Omaha, Neb., and holds an MFA in fiction writing from Creighton University. His work has been published by Prairie Schooner, Flash Fiction Magazine, Spelk, Belletrist and others.
Fifty-word stories force you to find the heart of communication.
My therapist was less than pleased when I explained to him I had found my cure using this process.
It took him fewer than fifty words to present me with his final bill for seventy-five dollars.
Charlotte has been writing most of her life. Fifty-Word Stories gave her the courage to submit her work.
We’ve been furloughed until the city is sure that the storm has passed. A precaution.
Nestled between two large piles of various canned and dehydrated foods, hot coffee in my hands, I am prepared to watch the rain.
A few drops hit the window, and the glass begins to sizzle.
K. Victoria Hernandez is an ecologist and writer. She is a Clarion workshop graduate, writes short stories, poetry, and is currently working on a novel. Her favorite season is storm season, with a cup hot coffee for warmth.
The Story of the Month is chosen from the Story of the Week winners announced from the past month.
The finalists for January were:
Hunting Nightmares by Ran Walker
For Karen, from Seward, Alaska by Cinthia Ritchie
Pruning for Life by Janet Mackie
Jam by Jo Withers
The winner of the January 2019 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…
Hunting Nightmares
I always love seeing stories come through the site featuring completely new themes and ideas, especially when they are as well delivered as this one. Ran Walker put together a genre, a world, an anti-hero, and an origin story plot, and did it all with style. The story created a world of opportunity, even promptly inspiring a fun unofficial sequel!
“Welcome to our adoption center,” Mr. Blake ushers people inside.
Time to please them. Maya barks softly. Kenny shakes his tail. Misty shows her pleading face. I know these tricks, but my limp hind leg is too obvious.
Maya is adopted. To me, it’s just another day in my kennel.
Allison Xu is a 7th-grade student and a book review blogger. Read more of her work at brightbookreaders.com.
The smoke alarm low-battery warning starts chirping.
Your kid’s stomach virus hits.
The faucet drips.
You notice that the cracks in the bedroom ceiling have gotten wider.
You hear an old train whistle in the distance.
You remember a song you haven’t heard since 1988.
I wonder where you are.
Robb Lanum is a failed screenwriter in Los Angeles. This is his third 50-word story. His longer, epic works have appeared on 101words.org.
The story of the week for February 4 to 8 is…
Only Thing Left To Do Is What We’ve Always Done by Graham Scott
and
The Guardian by Susan Gale Wickes
She stopped at the gate. “I’ve changed my mind.”
“Come on. Are you still scared?”
“If you had been at Vegas…”
“That was years ago. We’re together now; nothing will happen to us.”
“You’re right.” She took his hand. “Let’s go in.”
Unnoticed, a little red dot probed the crowd.
David Arnold is a veteran and retired academic living in central Kentucky. He has published in Narrative, Raven’s Perch, Microfiction Monday and 50 Word Stories
At the centre of the sun, the dark matter eggs cracked open. The creatures emerged, stretching their massive wings into fifteen million degree heat. They looked outwards, ready for their first meal.
The first planet was too small, the second too dry.
But the third planet…
It looked just right.
Bill lives in Aberdeen, Scotland. His most flanturbulous ambition is to create a new word that will eventually appear in the Oxford English dictionary.