Microfiction Magic Challenge Winners

Call it flash, micro, or any other tiny phrase. However you view it, writing as much with as few words as possible is (at least to us, for this Challenge) the gold standard of creative fiction. What makes Challenges (and challenges) like these so enjoyable to read and participate in is the same thing that makes all fiction enjoyable: making every word count. Once a story becomes waterlogged with extra emotion, extra words, extra extra, our interest flags and we tend to stop reading.

Through this prompt, you've shown once again that all you need are a few sentences and a story that hits hard. There were no parameters for what story you could tell, as long as it was between 50 and 100 words.

Interestingly, a vast majority of the stories we read for this Challenge had to do with death. This comes as no surprise as death is a sure way to wring pathos out of a quick few sentences. No wonder For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn., is so famous.

Here are the winners of the Microfiction Magic Challenge and spotlight on one of the Runners-Up. You can check out the full list of winners HERE.

$500 Grand Prize Winner

Tonya R. Moore for Santa Anna

In the country, we collected rainwater in metal drums.

This story showed just how much 100 words (exactly!) could contain. What drew us in most was the connection we felt between the roots of the banana trees and the protagonist's fear of fat slugs as well as the smell of the rainwater bearing all the mysteries of the universe. Two separate moments a sentence apart, each filled with a sense of the unknown. They made the protagonist feel small but curious, powerful, but not yet, soon.

To say nothing of the descriptive language and its evocation of an entire country, an entire way of life. This story was a feeling and we loved being in it. Thank you and congratulations, Tonya R. Moore!

$100 Second Place Winner

Megan Anderson for Neighbours

They’re feuding. Have been for months. Next time, the dog gets a bullet.

Also coming it at exactly 100 words, Neighbours was the most complete story we came across in this Challenge. It was so full of detail and narrative that after our first read we completely missed that the protagonist's husband abandoned her and their two children the day her dog was shot. That's how quick this story was but also shows much other stuff was going on in this story, important stuff, heartbreaking, heart-mending stuff. If we were to recommend a story for Creators to look at for future prompts, to understand how to not waste a moment, this is it. Congratulations, Megan Anderson!

Honorable Mention

Lauren Triola for The Stuffed Badger

One day someone killed Grandma Daley in front of it. There were no witnesses—except for the badger.

Pure fun. That's what this story was. There's something about focusing on an often overlooked object, training your camera lens on it, and watching scenes unfold from its perspective. We also loved this story because it made light of death in a way that could only be done from the angle of a stuffed badger. Well done, Lauren Triola!

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