Thank you to everyone who entered a story into our adults short story (100 words) competition. We were thrilled to have over 80 Flash Fiction entries to read and are pleased to publish these four prize winning stories as announced at the Book Festival this afternoon

Thank you to Reynolds Insurance, TM &JM Grey and Writers Magazine for donating  prizes for the Flash Fiction Competition.

FIRST PRIZE

Molly’s Dream Holiday by Christine Eddison

Christmas in Mombasa! Sweat gathers on my lip and prickles my armpits.Musky pawpaw and sweet jasmine scent the air, noisy with cicadas and hummingbirds.  

Tomorrow I’ll ride the glass-bottomed boat to the reef and gaze covetously towards exotic Zanzibar. Back at harbour, I’ll admire the busy throngs of white-garbed women and listen to the mesmeric murmur of the muezzin.

The door slammed. ‘Morning, Molly. Myra here. Time to get you dressed.’ I startle as my bed hoist begins its creaking grind. I sense the wheelchair waiting to transport me towards another sightless helping of daytime television.

JOINT SECOND PRIZE

Yo-Yo by Adam Stewart

Adam was the greatest. What that man couldn’t do with a yo-yo wasn’t worth doing.
At the height of his powers he performed his own brand of yo-yo magic to sell out arenas all over Warwickshire. He was a God and his legend was told in school playgrounds from Stockton to Stratford.

As the fame and fortune rolled in, Adam could even afford to buy his dream car.

Then, all too quickly, it ended.

“That’s my car” he yelled.

He reached out, the door slammed. His index finger fell to the floor. It was all over for
Adam.

JOINT SECOND PRIZE

Supernova by Charles Adey

Fifteen thousand light years from Earth, a star collapsed. Gravity intensified, crushing the surface inwards towards a point of infinite density, bending light rays and muting all noise into absolute black nothingness. Unable to collapse further, time reversed itself, and everything the star ever was exploded into white and pink eternity, stretching for millions of miles in every direction. I watched the tiny speck of light from my bedroom window, a little brighter than the others. A breeze came through the house and behind me the door slammed, bringing me back to planet Earth.

THIRD PRIZE

The Eye Test by Mairead Rawal

Hannah sat and waited. It’s just an eye test, she reassured herself. The ophthalmologist
whipped into the room, the door slammed behind him, making her jump.

‘Good morning, Mrs Smith’, and they began.

It was proceeding smoothly until she was asked to read the letters chart. First line; easy.
Second line; trickier. The third line was indistinct – C, O, C and… was that a K? It couldn’t be! Hannah broke out in a cold sweat. He was waiting.

‘K.’

The K hung there. Nobody spoke. She couldn’t quite meet the ophthalmologist’s eye.

‘R, Mrs Smith, R.’