NEWS: Submissions Temporarily Closed

News

Due to an overwhelming flood of submissions over the past couple of weeks, I am now sitting on a mountain of unread stories that will likely take me three months to sift through at my current pace.

Because of this, I am forced to close submissions until further notice. I’m sorry if you were just preparing to send in your submission, but you’ll have to hold onto it for a little while!

Once the slush pile is down to a more manageable level, and once I’ve come up with a plan for dealing with this kind of thing better moving forward, I will be reopening submissions and letting everyone know.

Thank you so much to everyone for your submissions and your interest in the site!

Tim Sevenhuysen

DANUSIA PANTECHIS: Unaware

Adventure, Amusing, Submissions, , ,

She skipped contentedly, ignoring the gnarled trees with knotted braches that clawed at her. Her rich, scarlet cloak rippled in the bitter, icy wind, trailing behind her.

As she bounded joyfully down the sandy, meandering path she was oblivious to the malevolent wolf who was settled in the sombre shadows.

Danusia Pantechis is 12 years old and loves to draw and watch Youtube. Her favourite films are the Hunger Games and Harry Potter trilogies. She loves taking her dog Trevor for walks in fields. When she grows up she wants to be a fashion designer or interior designer.

MADDY TIDMAN: The Big Mistake

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Ava shivered with angst as the screams of terror filled the misty air. Gusts of wind rushed through her long, blonde hair, making her yelp with fright. Questions circled her perplexed mind. Was this a mistake? Would she survive?

“Two tickets for the roller coaster!” Ava’s father told the ticket-master.

Maddy Tidman is 12 years old. She loves playing netball and badminton. Her favourite author is Veronica Roth and her favourite book is Divergent. She enjoys English because she can be creative and there is no right or wrong answer.

LUKE TAMBLIN: The Pursuit

Adventure, Submissions, , ,

James was running, faster than he ever had before. The thing (whatever it was) was in hot pursuit. A cold icy hand grabbed his shoulder, sending a deep chill down his spine. James could see the end. The beast brought him down.

Finally he knew what it was.

Too late.

Luke Tamblin is 11 years old and enjoys mountain biking, climbing, and skiing. His favourite food is pizza and he loves to read!

STORY OF THE MONTH: May 2015

News

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

The finalists for May were:

The Week the Circus Came to Town by Bob Thurber
The Beast by Holly Coombs
The Stranger by Gaghe MacWilliams
Handyman by Kathryn Trattner
The Writer’s Son by Guy Preston

The winner of the May 2015 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…

The Writer’s Son

Congratulations, Guy! Your story is beautiful and innocent. A great piece.

XANDER ARMSTRONG: Time Up

Adventure, Submissions, , , ,

My eyes snapped open. Where was I? Taking a few paces forward, I felt twigs snapping under my feet like bones of an old corpse. Looking down, I suddenly realised that there were no twigs, only bones and flesh.

Letting out a petrified scream, I knew my time was up…

Xander Armstrong is 11 years old and enjoys swimming and playing chess, cricket and rounders. He loves correcting teachers’ spelling! His favourite authors are Roald Dahl, J.K Rowling, Jeff Kinney, and David Walliams.

MATTHEW D WHEATON: The Taxi Driver

Adventure, Submissions, , ,

I told him about the son who I was raising alone. I explained about my son’s great love of baseball and how well he was doing in school. I told him everything I could think of.

At long last, he took the pistol from my head and returned my life.

Matthew is a retired computer systems programmer who has produced over 200 books for Project Gutenberg.

JON NIXON: The One to Watch

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

His eyes were glued to her as she moved gracefully across the dance floor.

As graceful as was possible with the fourteen stone man’s eyeballs stuck to her.

The drag quite honestly made a frightful mess of his trousers.

He tried to recover his composure.

She needed access to acetone.

Jon is a local government employee with a Newspaper Journalism background. He’s new to writing shorts. They’ve never really fit.

BRIAN BURMEISTER: People Are Always Ruining Things

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

In John’s bedroom were dozens of photos of a girl I knew, but he didn’t. She and I played together often as children.

I had a good idea of what he did with those pictures.

Back home, I destroyed every photo of her I’d ever cut out of the newspaper.

Brian Burmeister is Program Chair of English and Communication at Ashford University. He co-wrote the non-fiction play Farmscape: The Changing Rural Environment, published by Ice Cube Press.

CHRISTIAN J LINVILLE: Gonna Put My Pole Away

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Gonna lay away my fishin’ pole today. Life’s a dream and death an awakenin’, they say.

Well she’s gone and it’s too hot and I’m awake, alone here in these mosquitoes and weeds. This’s a quiet spot, but quiet don’t meet my needs.

Gonna lay away my fishin’ pole today.

Christian Linville is a native Oklahoman living in the western desert. His other work has appeared in Corium Magazine.