“I’m fine,” she says in the learned English way though her dry skin is scaly, her voice as rasping as bark. When I hug her close, I feel she might break. Her bones are twig-brittle, bare of the plumpness of blossom. “And you?” she asks. “All good,” I reply, and we let both our lies … Continue reading In The Shade Of My Mother
We jump the train, swig cans by the sea. A burnished drawbridge. A sinking sun. I joke there must be thousands of suns, all huddling beneath the horizon. You tell me I’m talking nonsense. Our first flat. We smoke on the fire-escape, call it our balcony. You steal marigolds but we don’t have soil. Each … Continue reading Home Truths and Three Shades of Orange
Congratulations again to all of the shortlisted authors. Here are the winners! First Prize Winner: In The Shade Of My Mother by Emily Macdonald Why we chose it: A tender interpretation of the prompt, with a wonderfully telling title Second Prize Winner: How To Carry Countries Inside You by Salena Casha Why we chose it: … Continue reading June 2023 Monthly Micro Winners
Vote for your favourite from these fab stories to win the surprise People’s Prize. Our judging team are busy re-reading to choose the winners of the cash prizes. Voting is open until 23.59 (UK time) on 26th June 2023. Results will be announced on 27th. Good luck everyone! A New Family Tree As she climbed, … Continue reading June 2023 Micro Shortlist
Many thanks to all who sent in a story for this month’s contest. The prompt was a photo this time around and while we did receive lots of great stories, we also received a lot that were descriptions of the tree in the photo and not really a story! So our advice is, always try … Continue reading June 2023 Monthly Micro Longlist
We’re excited to announce — after much deliberation between our readers — the longlist for November’s Monthly Micro Fiction competition. Thank you to everybody who entered — and, if you see your story below, congratulations. (Please don’t let us know which is yours yet, as we’re still judging blind!) We’ll be announcing our shortlist on … Continue reading Monthly Micro Fiction: longlist
