Andile could trace his family back to an eighteenth century shaman, but he was sure this was a first. Torso and abdomen were insectile; gonads mammalian in defiance of bio-mechanical laws. But the brain…? It phased in and out. His scalpel hovered…
The attackers were advancing to claim their dead.
Irish writer Perry McDaid lives in Derry under the brooding brows of Donegal hills which he occasionally hikes in search of druidic inspiration.
My stomach flipped with each dip of the gargantuan vessel. I stood at the bow of the black ship, letting the howling wind crawl through my short hair.
I watched my kingdom drift farther away and that’s when I intensely regretted my promise to the captain of the Tenebris Ignis.
Ashton Morris has been writing a book called The Kingdom of Magic for a year and a half now. She plays the piano and trombone.
I steeled my nerves as I stood on the edge of the cliff. As soon as I jumped there was no going back; there would be no stopping until I hit the ground.
Suddenly I took the leap.
After a few terrifying seconds, I felt the wind catch my parachute.
Nigel Deep is a junior in high school. He lives on a farm and enjoys working on cars. He would like to be an orthopedic surgeon when he grows up.
Teary-eyed and with flowers in hand, the boy inches toward the grave with his mother. The grave is familiar; they both visit it daily.
The boy breaks down and falls to his knees. Crying, he says, “He was so good. We had so many memories… He was a good goldfish.”
Tate Hancock is a junior at Orion High School in Illinois. He lives with his mother, father, older brother, and younger brother. He wrote this 50-word story for his English III Honors class.
The corridors were dark. It felt like his lungs would burst out of his chest, but he couldn’t stop running.
He couldn’t stop now, not after everything, not with everything ahead of him.
He couldn’t stop, not even for the sword pointed at him. Still, it felt good to rest.
Kelly Jacobson is a student at Orion High School. Her favorite subject is English and she hopes to someday publish a book or two.
The story of the week for October 3 to 7 is…
Audition by Magda Knight
The imagination in this story is exciting, and the fact that it’s self-referential about the word count adds a little bit more fun.
They say rejection hurts; I applied to the Imperial Bardic College knowing full well it can kill. An interview was offered and I took it, broke in more ways than one.
“Tell me a story.” The bard tapped the knife on the table. “Fifty words. Begin.”
My mind went blank.
Magda Knight writes speculative fiction for adults, young adults and changelings. Her work has been published in a number of anthologies (and, rather delightfully, in the British comic 2000AD). Some judges were kind enough to short/longlist her work for a number of awards including the Mslexia Children’s Book Awards in 2012 and the Commonword Diversity Writing for Children Prize in 2016. She is also the founder of Mookychick.co.uk, an alternative lifestyle site that’s been going since 2005. When she grows up she would like to be a sword or a bear.
“Here’s the hairspring, son: the watch’s clockwork heart. It controls how fast the watch runs, and how long it can go before it stops.”
In the trenches it’s my father’s words that keep me going. Every night I wind the watch, and every morning I wake to face the thunder.
Jeremy Nelson spent most his life in the urban tropics of Hong Kong before life grafted him into the conifer trees of the Pacific Northwest. He received his MFA in fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
I greet him with a wave; he responds with a nod.
He never speaks a word, though I understand what he is saying. I don’t have to speak for him to know what I’m telling him.
Together, we have a silent conversation.
Before he turns to leave, he signs goodbye.
Karissa Collis is a student at Orion High School. She lives with two other sisters and a handful of animals.
I asked my father what he’d miss most and he talked about the odors of men, and the fragrances of women, about the distinct aromas places held for the time you were in them — crowded rooms, vacant houses, city streets after a thunder shower, country roads during a heavy snow.
Over the years Bob Thurber’s work has received a long list of awards and prizes. His most recent book is a collection of brief stories titled “Nothing But Trouble.” His first novel, “Paperboy: A Dysfunctional Novel,” was recently rereleased. Visit BobThurber.net.