Arid

Arid

Arid

The Winners!

Bathtub Jinn. First Place in Arid Challenge.
If you have ever believed that your brain is more perfect or beautiful than other brains, an MRI will sort that out. I was hurt by the bland mediocrity of my own brain. It was generic, typical—the sort of brain that you could see in stock images or textbooks. It matched the illustrations that accompany boilerplate lore about grey matter on The Mayo Clinic site that you might scroll through in a sweaty, hypochondriacal panic at three in the morning.
By D. J. Reddall3 years ago in Fiction
Berry. Second Place in Arid Challenge.
I closed my mouth slowly, deliberately, pressing rather than chewing. It is important to savour. The berry, plucked so long ago from that solitary bush, kept too long in my tattered pouch, was engulfed in my parched silence. It was shrivelled, hard; my tongue pushed it to the roof of my mouth, my throat braced for a burst of sweet juice that never came.
By James Leek3 years ago in Fiction
Chandler Frye and the Desert of Doom!. Runner-Up in Arid Challenge.
On the night of March 1, 2023 a powerful winter storm blew through Arizona and left a blanket of snow on the Sonoran Desert. AZ Wonders, 2 March 2023
By Brendan Donaghy3 years ago in Humor
Eating Cricketburgers in The Sands with Concrete on the 4th of July . Runner-Up in Arid Challenge.
Payment was expected at the permanent oases. These were bustling places with names like Watertown and Shady Palms, mostly built up with ramshackle structures, but whose precious trees were made into stately homes for the wealthiest inhabitants. Past the gates, vessels, artifacts, and resources could be traded with merchants for hamster-pemmican or hamster oil, which was burned for light in lamps, but nothing in The Sands was more valuable than water. It was always a matter of what you could afford to part with versus how much you could carry versus how thirsty you were. Jack knew he’d have to be pretty desperate to part with his shovel.
By J. Otis Haas3 years ago in Fiction
What Grandpa Antone Saw. Runner-Up in Arid Challenge.
"What a pretty picture." He wasn't looking at anything in particular. His eyes were open, but he seemed somewhere else, far away.
By PK Colleran3 years ago in Families
The Long and Painful Death of Sandie Malone. Runner-Up in Arid Challenge. Content Warning.
November, 2023, Colorado Desert. Mam, before we begin, I just want to say that I will be offering no apology for betraying you at your funeral. It was the best thing I could have done. I don't even mind if you do come back and haunt me. I think I would enjoy that.
By Caroline Jane3 years ago in Fiction
Faded. Runner-Up in Arid Challenge.
Eyes flitted open to the same old interior: metallic walls, noiselessness, dank smells, bitter tastes, and the bizarre feeling of accomplishment, though that accomplishment is unknown.
By Reiley3 years ago in Fiction