The story of the week for January 4 to 8 is…
Waiting to be a Good Samaritan by Paul Beckman
Last week brought us an incredibly strong lineup of stories, but Paul’s contribution has me laughing afresh every time!
NEWS: 2015 Story of the Year Finalists
Throughout 2015, we got to read a ton of great stories, but only a few could rise to the top. Here are the 12 Story of the Month winners, which make up our finalists for the 2015 Story of the Year.
JANUARY: Math Lesson by Cathy Ulrich
FEBRUARY: Closing Time by Steve Lucas
MARCH: Striking Twice by Gina Lyle
APRIL: Note Left on a Car in a Grocery Store Parking Lot by Cynthia Franks
MAY: The Writer’s Son by Guy Preston
JUNE: Head Case by Mark Farley
JULY: Mr. Moon by Dan Niederloh
AUGUST: You Are Standing in My Moonlight by Jeff Holland
SEPTEMBER: One Job From Retirement by Guy Preston
OCTOBER: A Fleeting Childhood by Jason Huynh
NOVEMBER: Blind Date by Matthew Gregory
DECEMBER: Fairy Lights by Ellie Burkinshaw
The winner, as chosen by editor Tim Sevenhuysen will be announced next weekend!
The prize for the Story of the Year winner will be:
- $50 (Canadian)
- Enshrinement in the 50WS Hall of Fame
Let everyone know in the comments who you would give the award to!
Throwback: In 2015, Bob Thurber won the Story of the Year award with his piece The Mapmaker’s Calligraphist Daughter.
JON NIXON: Kisses From Heaven
It’s hard understanding what a child feels about losing a loved one. She’d waited by the window for days, watching the racing rain droplets.
Now, the first beautiful day since it happened. Blue suburban sky, bright sunshine.
She smiled as she looked up, seeing the criss-crossing of aeroplanes’ vapour trails.
Jon is from the North West of England and works in local government, but has a background in Newspaper Journalism. He is currently enjoying writing for fun and experimenting with short written forms.
GUY PRESTON: Birthday Present From a Time-Traveling Romantic
I studied under Sinatra for years, learned guitar from Clapton, and pondered the language of love with Shakespeare himself.
I wrote a ballad that stilled the wind and made the moon blush, and serenaded my girlfriend beneath a thousand stars.
“That was nice,” she said. “But where’re my proper presents?”
Guy once wrote his girlfriend a love song, but lost the words. This is his seventh 50-word story.
LEN KUNTZ: Trail
We were army kids, moving ten times in fourteen years.
Mother ruled the house like an angry nun. Dad seldom spoke, always thinking, thinking…
It wasn’t until our last move that he slipped up, the trail of dead bodies he’d left behind a connect-the-dot drawing of every place we’d lived.
Len Kuntz is a writer from Washington State and an editor at the online magazine Literary Orphans. His story collection The Dark Sunshine debuted from Connotation Press in 2014. You can also find him at lenkuntz.blogspot.com.
LEE DeAMALI: Present
She grew through the cracks, a dandelion on a sidewalk, a burst of inspiration fancied by passing children before being cut back, squashed and yanked by those calling her merely a weed.
Short-lived but hardy, laying seeds so that we may recognize the simple beauty of simply being here now.
Lee DeAmali is doing okay today.
GARTH PETTERSEN: The Edge
Surging waves rolled against that shore, as always.
Perhaps the cliffs had receded in places, wind-battered and rain-washed, but I knew them and they welcomed me. I stood on the edge, naked as my first day, arms spread wide, ready.
It was the sun on my face that stopped me.
Garth Pettersen is a Canadian writer living in the Fraser Valley near Vancouver, BC. To date he has written children’s stories, a YA novel, adult short stories, and an historical novel, and is currently working on a sequel. His short stories have been published in Queen Anne’s Revenge, Vol. I, and Wherever We Roam, an anthology of Canadian stories. In 2016 his stories will appear in anthologies published by Horrified Press and Main Street Rag Publishing. Read Garth’s blogs on writing at garthpettersen.com.
PAUL BECKMAN: Waiting to be a Good Samaritan
One morning I noticed a lost cat sign on the corner telephone pole. There was the calico’s picture, his name (Toonces), and a phone number.
Four days later, written in red: “$100 reward!”
After the weekend, it was up to $150.
When it gets to $200, I’ll make the call.
Paul Beckman’s Flash and Micro fictions are widely published. His published story website is paulbeckmanstories.com. His latest collection is called “Peek” and is available from his site or from Amazon.
NEWS: Bumblebee Microfiction Contest
Resident Hall-of-Famer Bob Thurber will be judging the Bumblee Microfiction Contest, open to entries this month!
Head over to the contest page and send in your 50-word story. You could win a one-year subscription to Pulp Literature.
Entries will be judged by Bob Thurber.
Good luck to everyone who enters!
STORY OF THE MONTH: December 2015
The Story of the Month is chosen from the Story of the Week winners announced from the past month.
The finalists for December were:
The Magic Pencil by Joanne R. Fritz
Fairy Lights by Ellie Burkinshaw
All-Nighter Agony by Sally Basmajian
All Sales Are Final by Daniel Slaten
Surface Area by Bruce Meredith
The winner of the December 2015 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…
Fairy Lights
Circuses are ripe ground for mystery, fantasy, and a tinge of darkness. Ellie took great advantage of that space for imagination, and created an entry point into a massive world of speculation and exploration.