Micro Fiction Writing Competition Winners: S2 Round 5

The results are in for our second last round of this series of micro-fiction writing competitions. I’m excited to say there’s only 1 more round before production begins on the second Mum Life Stories Anthology, which is shaping up to be a number 1 best seller (hey, I can dream can’t I?) so that means only one more chance to get your story included in the book. Get your thinking caps on and let’s fill the end of the anthology with tales our readers will remember long after they put it down (but let’s hope they can’t put it down).

Thank you to everyone who entered the 5th round of series 2, of the Micro Fiction Writing Competition. This round was themed ‘Adolescence’ and writers had just 500 words to create a tale to enthral us. They certainly did that. As always, the entries were all amazing and picking just 3 winners was a tough task. Congratulations once again to all our shortlisted stories this month. If you missed the previous post containing the shortlist, you can find it HERE or just see the list below.

Short List

  1. Adolescence: A Mother’s Perspective, MARY WRIGHT, United Kingdom
  2. Always Remembered, SAM SZANTO, United Kingdom
  3. Baby Blues, ROSEMARY GEMMELL, Great Britain
  4. Connor of the Crows, Rebekah Caldwell, United States
  5. Locked Out, GEJA HADDERINGH, Netherlands
  6. Not enough fingers, JAN ERSKINE-POWER, United Kingdom
  7. One Word At A Time, JO HOLMES, United Kingdom
  8. The Talk, LAURA TAPPER, United Kingdom
  9. Undercover Trolls, DEBORAH HENLEY, Australia
  10. Broken Identity, BRADLEY SMITH, Australia
This page contains affiliate links which may earn me a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you click through and make a purchase. For more informations please visit our privacy policy. Affiliate links are how I keep this blog going, thank you.

Boho Decor DIY Kits

BOHOJO’S DECOR


Winners

And here they are, our 3 winners. Congratulations to you all, you should be very proud!

1ST PLACE ($50 prize, printed copy of anthology + a digital copy)

ALWAYS REMEMBERED

Sam Szanto (UK)

WHAT WE LIKED:  We really enjoyed the visual imagery and uniqueness of this piece. A very well-written poignant but comforting story, about life after loss.

BIO: Sam Szanto lives in Durham, UK. Over 50 of her stories and poems have been published and/or listed in contests. Her short story collection ‘If No One Speaks‘ was published by Alien Buddha Press in 2022. Earlier in 2022, she won the Shooter Flash Contest and she has also been a winner in the Literary Taxidermy Contest and the Writer’s Mastermind contest among others. Her poetry has been published in journals around the world and she was the winner of both the Charroux Prize for Poetry in 2020 and the First Writer International Poetry Prize. 

Website: samszanto.com

Twitter: @sam_szanto

AUTHOR’S STATEMENT: I have written all my life – recently I’ve become interested in the themes of voicelessness and displacement, particularly relating to women, which dominate the stories in my collection ‘If No One Speaks’. If I have a moral preoccupation as a writer, it is to give a voice to the voiceless. My winning story, ‘Always Remembered’, takes the idea of a mother of an adopted child, now a teenager, going on a pilgrimage to the biological mother’s grave. I was interested in how it feels to be that mother and that teenager, and the things that cannot be said between them as well as the things the biological mother can never say.

Photo by John Thomas on Unsplash

ALWAYS REMEMBERED

Kieran bounds up the one hundred and ninety-eight steps. At the top, I double over, my hands on my knees.

‘You’re so unfit,’ he laughs.

The air is still, no wind brushing my cheek. There is a postcard-view of the sea and town, but I don’t draw attention to it. Nor to the old couple with an actual paper map, nor the black-jacket-clad can-drinkers who look not much older than Kieran.

We walk through the wrought-iron gates in silence. Kieran had talked a lot on the car journey, excited to be in the place where he was born.

‘Are you okay, love?’

‘Sure.’ His voice is paper-thin.

I wish I could hold his hand. A few years ago, he was sloppily affectionate as a puppy. Now he’s taller than me and no physical affection is permitted outside the house.

We circumnavigate tawny and leaning tombs, the names of those who lie beneath virtually licked away by the elements. A few are topped by angels who look as if they would be easily offended; also Celtic crosses and open books.

‘You know where you’re going, right?’ Kieran asks suspiciously.

‘Of course.’

I’m pretty sure I know, although the first and last time I visited was eleven years ago, just after Kieran came to us. I laid white roses on her grave and murmured that I would always look after and love her son; that when he was old enough, I would bring him. Afterwards, having travelled so far, I spent an hour wandering the plots, reading and constructing stories. I visited the charnel chapel below the church, containing the bones of three thousand people dating from the fourteenth century; a vicar was there, praying amongst the bones; I prayed with him, for Kieran. The vicar told me that tombstone tourism was

booming; they were considering opening a café ‘Up above’. Then I went home to Kieran and my husband. Now, my husband has another son, biologically his, and it is just Kieran and me.

We come to a children’s corner, tiny stones with balloons and teddies, which makes my throat constrict.

‘Where is it, Mum?’

Illuminated by a shaft of sunlight, I see it. Her grave, being one of the newer ones, is tucked away.

Rosemary Maria Smith. 21st December 1992 – 27th December 2012. Mother, Always Remembered. No angels, crosses or books. No flowers.

‘Happy thirtieth birthday.’ Kieran kneels; lays the bouquet. White roses mixed with lilies and carnations; Tesco’s Finest.

‘Do you reckon that she knows, Mum?’ He speaks as if each word is bringing him to a trapdoor.

‘Knows?’

‘Knows we’re here – knows who I am.’

His skin is the colour of a church candle; Rosemary’s the same, in the photo we have.

‘She knows.’

I kneel too. His hand takes mine. At first his hold is soft as birthday cake, then tighter, then he is gripping as if to keep me in the world.

‘Come on, love,’ I say. ‘Let’s find a café.’


100neHundred (micro fiction) by Laura Besley


2ND PLACE ($20 prize + digital copy of anthology)

LOCKED OUT

Geja Hadderingh (Netherlands)

WHAT WE LIKED: The relatability of this story (for those of us who have ever had teens in the house), has been very well communicated. A descriptive telling of a difficult season between mother and child.

BIO:

Geja is a Dutch national, living a post Brexit life in the UK. Her stories have appeared in Paragraph Planet, Vine Leaves Press and 101 Words. 

She has a passion for languages and prefers the task of editing to the challenges of writing creatively.

AUTHORS STATEMENT: In ‘Locked Out’ I have tried to capture the period of time when parents (in this case, a mother) feel barred from their children’s lives. The adults question their own role and wonder if they are partly to blame – whilst forgetting that they were exactly the same in their own adolescence. I have also tried to express the feeling of hope for the future and an understanding that, as children grow up, family relationships do change and nothing stays the same.

LOCKED OUT

I never saw the door closing, but I was battered by the whirlwind it created. One moment I’m
central to every aspect of her life, the next I’m locked out. Barred.

Those open discussions, of earlier years, have dried up like a stoney desert river, with only the
odd, single word responses trickling through. Quality time is reduced to accidental meetings in the
bathroom corridor and family love only seems to flow in one direction.

Was it me who slammed the door when I repeatedly expressed my concerns about that boy, Joss? Or
was it her, when the number of ‘likes’ on Facebook became far more important than being liked by
her mother?

When she was younger, there was nothing separating us. We were real friends in a special
relationship. I championed her independence, sharing a master key to each other’s lives.
Later, I held the outside gate wide open and encouraged her to explore, expand, and experiment.
I stayed by the fence and watched her go. Far enough away for her to feel freedom, near enough to
remain in my comfort zone.

Now there is this barrier, which has been firmly bolted. It is blocking my access to her and
creating long, dark shadows of depression. There are no windows, so she doesn’t see me pushing.
She doesn’t hear my head banging against the frame. She doesn’t feel my pain. I linger on the
outside of her life, like a groupie without a ticket, while her friends stroll past me into her
welcoming arms. Their bond deepens, as I stand alone in the cold.

I’m not a locksmith, nor a joiner. I’m a mother who tried to give her daughter all the skills and
experiences to develop into an autonomous teenager. I propelled her independence. And now I want
her back. Start again. There must have been something wrong with the original blueprint. The end
product was supposed to be so different.

Where is that household with open borders, walls made of flexible, woven willow, and wide
pathways, with handrails, leading to the ever expanding horizon? That faded dream of security,
based on family connectivity, not alarms, movement sensors or impregnable vaults, has vanished in
the reality of adolescence.

The only person I can now influence, is myself. So I’ll brush the welcome mat, display the
‘Open’ signs and ensure that those hidden trapdoors and threatening portcullises are dismantled and
ineffective. A bright candle will glow in the hallway.

I have to believe that one day I will hear the latch being pulled back, see the door swing open
and experience pure joy as she steps freely over the threshold.

And when she does, for once, I won’t remind her to ‘close that damn door’ behind her. The new
warmth will more than compensate for the cold chill, that always seeps through the cracks.


3RD PLACE ($20 prize + digital copy of anthology)

BABY BLUES

Rosemary Gemmell (United Kingdom)

WHAT WE LIKED: The creativity in imagining the teen perspective on changing family dynamics.

BIO: Rosemary Gemmell is a published Scottish author of novels, short stories, children’s fiction, articles and poetry. Scotland greatly inspires some of her writing, as does exploring family relationships and nostalgia. You can find out more on her website: https://www.rosemarygemmell.co.uk 

AUTHOR’S STATEMENT: I grew up in a happy family with a large gap between the first three children and the next three. My sister is ten years older than me and often looked after me without complaining. But I wondered what it must be like to be an only child and a teenager, then suddenly find there’s going to be a new baby in the family!  

 

BABY BLUES

I’d begun to notice a few changes when Mum finally told me. Not only her looser clothes but the friendlier way the parents now talked to each other, sitting together on the sofa.

“Come and sit down, Becky love. We have some news.”

Surely they weren’t splitting up? I hadn’t heard any arguments for ages.

“You’re going to be a big sister,” Mum said.

“What? You can’t be pregnant, Mum!”

Dad grinned. “You can enjoy getting used to the idea of having a baby brother or sister.”

“Yeah, great.” Gross – a baby at their age!

How could they? Well, they needn’t think I’d be looking after it. Bad enough that mum worked nearly as much as dad.

Next year, I’d be concentrating on getting good grades for applying to Art College. The last thing I needed was a screaming baby who’d crawl among my belongings and keep me awake at night.

Later, my thoughts tumbled around. What will my friends think? I can’t tell them. When mum gets bigger, I’ll stop inviting them over and decide how to handle it after the baby arrives.

Hopefully Mum’s good mood would last a bit longer.

“Mum…about the third-year dance at school. I could do with a new outfit. Maybe I could go shopping with a couple of friends on Saturday?” I rushed it all out.

“I think we might manage a new dress, love, but why don’t we go together and you can help me look at baby clothes.”

“Fine.” I shrugged. Great.

When Mum hugged me, a warm glow bubbled up inside. I’d enjoy having a day out together like we used to years ago.

I was searching through the shop rails when I heard familiar voices. Lucy and Kate!

It was too late to hide when mum’s voice rang out.

“Hello, girls. Becky’s behind that rail somewhere.”

“Hi, Mrs McKenzie. Oh, when’s the baby due,” Lucy asked. “I’ve always wanted a sister. Becky’s so lucky.”

I listened in astonishment. Seriously?

Then Kate added. “You can take my wee brother! But I do love him to bits, really.”

Lucy spotted me. “Hey, you didn’t tell us the exciting news, Becky! You’re going to be a big sis – how cool is that!”

I shrugged. “Thought I’d wait until nearer the time.”

“Let us know when it’s born,” Lucy said, “and we’ll be right round. If you don’t mind, Mrs McKenzie?”

“Of course, you can. Becky will be glad of the support.”

When they’d gone, I suddenly realised that mum would need my support.

“I could do without a new dress, Mum.”

“Absolutely not. Take the chance while it’s available! I’m leaving work next month, so we can have some fun times together before the baby arrives. We’re so proud of you Becky. You’ll be a wonderful big sister.”

My face glowed. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad. I could even help decorate the baby’s room with some of my art work. But I’d forget about the crawling stage for now.


frank-holleman-VEoUWF2iQlQ-unsplash

Kindle Paperwhite – Now waterproof with twice the storage (8gb)


Thanks

Thank you for reading this blog. If you’d like to submit a story for consideration of publication, please visit our submissions page.

If you’d like to be notified when a new writing competition begins, sign up HERE or hit the button below and you’ll be added to our mailing list. You’ll receive all the latest stories, news and competitions (including writing contests and giveaways) plus a FREE eBook!

Alternatively, go to our COMPETITIONS page for info on the latest competitions!




Leave a comment