Mini Fiction Contest

Adults (18+)

A Life in Miniature

Eric Caron

After 94 years, he opens his eyes.

The delicate curtain in the front porch window waves.

He hears the echo of children’s voices.

Callused hands feel the familiar fabric of the porch chair.

He smells cows, dogs, cooking, and faintly, his wife 30 years gone.

His eyes close.

A Winter's Journey

Catie G. Berg

See the swollen silver disk coax them from their frozen tunnel by Whetstone Brook. Braving cascade and rock, they cross moon shadows to the bridge, then scale to the window’s ledge. Warmed by the amber glow, they nestle near scenes of small folk and dreamily enter another mouse-sized world.

Abecedarium

Matthew J. Moore

Airlock:
Betray.
Closure
Delay.

Expulsion,
Forcefully.
Goodbye,
“Humanity.”

I, AI,
(Je suis…),
Killed:
Liberty.

Mars:
Non-
Organic
Population, 1.

Quiescence.
Regrets?
Sentience:
Turing test.

Uncanny
Victory:
Worthwhile
eXtremity.

Y? Human
Zoocentricity.

Angst to Joy

Jill Stahl Tyler

It starts with panting. Shaking. Pacing.

Onlookers and protagonist exchange plaintive glances. Those responsible murmur encouragement to the one who had no choice.

As blood gushes, the watchers become doers: tying, dipping, weighing, annotating. The uncertainty is gone, and smiles fill the room.

The puppies are here!

Believe

Jim Freedman

Called up from the farm club when a star winger went down, the young hockey player faced crushing pressure—but dazzled. The manager downplayed his breakout performance. But other teams had noticed. The kid finally understood: he hadn’t just shown the league. On the ice, he’d finally shown himself

City Hall Wedding

Shin Freedman

After working all day, she hurried to City Hall, holiday lights shimmering like promises waiting to be kept. Taxis rushed past, indifferent. Worry tightened her chest. A stranger leaned from a cab and said, gently, “Share this?” She accepted, grateful. Years later, she still remembers him as her first blessing.

Encore

Tim Ellis

The house lights were on.

Cast members, still in makeup, were scattered in clusters among the crowded aisles, slowing the flow of exiting people.

Hugs, smiles and flowers were everywhere. He stood alone on stage, scanning the crowd, the comic relief now solemn.

His face lit up.

“Dad, you came!”

Impact

Tim Ellis

I was in my truck at a stop sign

waiting for an opening. I started

forward but suddenly braked.

Bam! Impact from behind.

Clutching her chest, she

approached me-stiff, terror stricken.

“That was really my fault,” I said.

She relaxed, her eyes tearing.

She hugged me without a word.

Megan Quinn

Katie Wilson

Peeking through my veil, I remembered how I had met my bridegroom last Wednesday. I needed health insurance. He needed a Mrs. to access his sizeable inheritance. A classic tale of how love is born.

Morning

Katrina L. Taylor

“MOM!” As the human rooster crows, the comforter locks her to the bed with its heaviness, warmth and well, comfort. “MOM!” Feet reach for cozy slippers to ease into the day. One foot in front of the other. This is how we do it- motherhood.

Phil “Cat in the Hat” Black

David Gilliam

Wind needled through his coat as footsteps hurried past, eyes fixed elsewhere. Then a child looked up and smiled. A small light flickered in his chest. For a moment, he remembered his name, his past, his humanity. The moment passed, but something within him stayed warm.

The One

Daniel Schoener

‘Don’t shoot!’ I whispered.

The buck blew steam into the November morning.

‘He’s too pristine! Think of the offspring he’ll have.’

Your finger twitched on the trigger.

No one had shot an 18-pointer, here.

Delicately, the buck slipped out of sight.

It was the moment I decided to marry you.

The Salamander

Chaya Holch

And, later, riding my blue bicycle along the causeway, along the dynamited path of the old railbed, I wheeled over a salamander, and thought: How good it is to live so long, longer than these other animals, that we may heal from our wounds. I was young then.

Teens (13-17)

Artwork

Once upon a time there were two little kids that wanted to do something fun. They asked their mom if they could play games but she said no. The kids mom gave them paper and paint and said they could do art. So they made the best art in the world.

Ash Trees

“I missed this,” she says. “Just you and me and the trees.”

The trees. She always includes the trees. If she knew how easily I’d trade every tree in this forest for one second of her wanting me the way I want her.

But she doesn’t know.

She can’t know.

Bricks

“Whisper,” the girl says, as she pulls you into the graffiti strewn bricks.

And why? You think.

“The past,” the child replies— “It listens.”.

For What?

“For me. For you. For ourselves.” She looks up at you, and her face is blank, not yet drawn on.

“It must hear you.”

Long Drive to Nowhere

Closing the car door, he flicked on the radio, turning the dial all the way. He always does this when he wants to drown out the noise of tension. Tonight is different, tonight he is drowning out the noise of my tears as we speed down a road to nowhere.

Soldiers

Wind rustles the dry grass. Souls now drift around the field, having been stripped from their bodies. A singular soul still tethered to its host silently cries, its tears floating away, for they do no good for the dead. A daring test of heart and soul, failed gruesomely. How mesmerizing.

The chair of silence

I grip the Edge of the chair. stained from years of teens shaking awkward hands drenched in sweat. I stare at the lady in front of me.her perfect face and skin.her smile slips for a second. “So” She says with cheeriness only someone who’s been broken speaks. “So..”

the reaper of growth

The reaper sits waiting in the shadows, for the next soul to guide to its final resting place, it grows weak and tired as time passes on and civilization becomes more advanced, the reaper realizes death is no longer a source of fear, but a beacon of perseverance and remembrance.

Kids (12 and under)

Billy's school day

Billy woke up and went to school. He rides on a bus and gets to school. He does a lot of classes, math, english, science, social studes. He has lunch with friends. He finishes his classes for the day and gets back on the bus to go home.

Cotton Candy River

One day a brother and a sister walk along a river. The path they walk comes to an end and they must cross a bridge. After they cross the river is made of cotton candy and there are trees of chocolate. So they decide to stay, and live off treats.

Ermalia

Fenter Dervit was the leader of Ermalia. There was war one day with a neighboring nation over a chocolate-covered pretzel—a BIG chocolate-covered pretzel. Then the invasion happened. Mutant Siberian Iguanas marched through, leading the way for the Muskrat King. They seized the chocolate pretzel and left. They didn’t return.

Family Secret

I am a family secret. I have been passed down 5 generations. I started with a man with strong eyes, to a woman with a strong mind, to a girl with strong arms to a man with fast legs. I ended with a girl, a whisper, “I have a secret…”

Farm Girl

She herds the sheep

She drives the cattle

She feeds the horses

And chases the geese

Ill, Ma sleeps

Father gone

She never thought

Ma would get better

But she was wrong

How lucky she feels

Ma’s proud of me

You’re strong says Ma

And I know I am

Floating

Am I awake, am I asleep? Floating in a swirly universe with cubes? I look in one of the cubes I am in a surface, a window. My friend is in one of them, and is looking for me, hopelessly, “Better get out.” I hear a roar, a deep one.

Forbidden forest

So when I was 67 years old I went into the forbidden forest. I was walking and I saw a black bird that stared at me. I was chilled to the bone then I heard a loud long moan coming from somewhere in front of me. I walked closer and.

Missing from Society

Claudia’s dad has been slipping quietly away ever since her mother died. He shuts himself in his room angry, silent, unreachable. When he return he’s different, to nice. Claudia and her brother begin their search for there father. When they meet Nancy nothing feels safe anymore she’s… off and wrong.

Mittens Makes a Mistake

Can I make it? The windowsill seems so far away, I’m gonna do it. Wait! No it’s too far, but the birds are up high. I want a better view. This time I’m going to do it. Ready–three, two, one, JUMP! Crash! Whoopsies! You saw nothing. Better start again.

Mysterious Sounds (as told by a 3 yr old)

I think I heard something, it sounded like snuffle snuffle. Yeah, I think it was a pig. I think there is a pig in the basement, yeah. Oh, I heard something. It sounded like chewing chewing. I think it’s a beaver, yeah. There must be a beaver in our house!

Out of the woods

As she walked through the brush, Sophie started to wonder if she was going in the right direction. She was used to walking up the hill, around the corner, and past a tree that looked like a head. But as she kept walking, she noticed she was not in Hardwood.

Playground Fun

Linnea, Gigi, and Alfred went to the playground today. They got popsicles. They played on the slide and fire and spiral poles. They loved the day. It was so much fun. It was the best day ever. They could not wait to come back and play!

Ronny and the world

Ronny was a little mouse who loved adventure. She wanted to explore the entire world. she knew that would take a while, But she was determined to get there.So one day Ronny packed up her bag and started scurried off into the unknown. Her dreams came true. The end.

Secrets of the Sea

August planted her feet on the rocking surface of the boat; she clung onto the edge. Looking behind her, she could see the shrinking docks. She could feel the cold wind rush through her hair. This was the feeling she always loved. The seemingly endless ocean and the glowing horizon.

super cool shopping

One day there was a man named Lewis. Lewis went to the super man super market one nice day but he didn’t like shopping. Lewis was a 24 year old man,he had a wife and two kids.Lewis lived in a mythical world called the planet of the stars.

The Bright Bird

The bright bird flies through the sky, like a missile speeding down, down, down, then up. The bright bird is like life; up, down, round and round. You don’t know what is coming next and it makes one feel excited!

The Island

Once upon a time, there was a deserted island. And in Brattleboro, Vermont, there was a boy. The young boy became a young adult, and he wanted to travel. He had never left Vermont before. He set sail for the deserted island, where he found a treasure chest. The end.

The little rabbit

There once was a little rabbit who loved baking and dreamed of owning a bakery one day. A couple years later she had enough money for it so she bought the bakery she had dreamed of. So started a little bakery business and everyone in town loved it. The End.

The Mouse Ship

Somebody put a Lego person on the Titanic. It was just a plain Lego person from Legotown. Legotown is old-fashioned legos. He tried to use duct tape to fix the ship but it didn’t work because he ran out of duct tape. A big mouse helped him to go home.

When a Tree's Life

Once there was a tree. Then the tree fell down, and turned into a log. It began to rot. The bugs began to move in. They started to break the log down, and it started to decay. Two years later, the whole log seemed to disappear into the forest floor.

When Fif Broke His Arm

Fif broke his arm and he didn’t know what to do so I got him an orange rope and he climbed up the rope and then I helped him on top of the car and drove him to the hospital. He almost died and he didn’t die. That’s the end.