FLASH FICTION CONTEST

New Mexico

by Miranda Williams

At eighteen, she retired from snakeskin boots and yellow desert shrubs. Mi casa es tu casa, siempre, her grandmother had said, holding her with calloused and wrinkled hands. The same hands that sewed blankets of wool and fed her tomatoes picked from the dry earth. The hummingbirds sang to her as she left and the smell of roasting green chile danced with the air. She drove away while the sun painted her cheeks the color of watermelon. She never knew there was a place where stars weren’t visible at night. Sometimes she would go to one of the parks and lie in the sandbox, pretending it was warm and her grandmother was with her, braiding her hair and whispering mi nieta, eres tan hermosa. Other times, she would only sit caged by apartment walls with chipped turquoise paint, and let her tears wash store-bought tomatoes.

Miranda Williams is a writer from New Mexico who currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona. When she is not writing, you may find her lurking in local coffee shops, gushing over beatnik poets, or hanging out with her best friend (a.k.a Roxy the pitbull). She received the Paulette Schlosser Writing Award for her piece “Creepy Wizard Guys,” and is also the recipient of the Arizona State University Homecoming Writing Award. Find her on Instagram @mirandaiswriting.

Benue River

By Charles Gerald

The fisherman and his daughter floated languidly down the river. The wooden dinghy listed to starboard, their toes touching the water beside their fishing lines. The Benue River played host to the diamond reflections of stars; bright white blemishes on a black blanket. The man, a hardened widower, listened as his daughter sang a tune to the sky. Her melody, an old Tuareg song, was melancholy beauty.

The girl, a few days past ten years old, silenced when she noticed her father’s line tugging.

‘Papa, you caught something,’ she said.

After a brief tussle, a catfish landed on the bottom of the boat.

‘Another one. Well done,’ she said.

The fisherman beheaded and disemboweled the creature from neck to tail. From its stomach spilled a sliver of a plastic wrapper. Moonlight illuminated the logo of a fast food chain. He nodded and placed it with the rest.

Charles Gerard is a writer from the United Kingdom. He has an MA in Creative Writing.

WARNING!

by Rollin Jewett

The sign read:

Warning
Storm drain run-off
may cause illness. 
Avoid contact.

I quickly moved away.

Around me,
strewn about the beach…
Were the corpses of the

Fish,
Birds,
and Seals

that had never learned
to read.

Rollin Jewett is an award winning playwright, screenwriter, singer/songwriter, poet, authorm and photographer. His screenwriting credits include “Laws of Deception” and “American Vampire”. His short stories, poetry, and photography have been published in numerous literary magazines and anthologies. His plays have been produced all over the world.