Writers Victoria held its fourth flash fiction competition this year. The theme was ‘Glimmer’. For the 30 days of April, they posted a single-word prompt and entrants wrote up to 30 words in response.
Here are my final 10 stories.
April 21 Gold
Tired of his golden boy persona, he dropped out of school, did drugs and got a girl pregnant. Good thing he lived down to his new image – he’s my Dad.
April 22 Scintillate
Ivy was greedy for love, a social climber. She tried to cut her nemesis down to size – damn Rose and her scintillating beauty – but Rose stabbed her with vicious thorns.
April 23 Hope
The earth sighed, spewing molten lava. People disrespected him, digging holes and dropping bombs. He threw tempests, lit fires and sent plagues, hoping someone would listen. Can you hear him?
April 24 Inkling
In the still of night, before the sky gave an inkling of dawn, Edgar slept, and his dark forces came out to play: the raven, black cat and red death.
April 25 Sparkle
A hint of moonshine spawned the beast.
People sacrificed shimmering sequins at its altar.
Near the end, its glow reduced to a subdued sparkle, an inkling of dark days ahead.
April 26 Neon
Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium … by the time she reaches neon, her mind wanders. Chemistry isn’t for her, she dreams of her name in sparkling lights – in silver, gold, platinum.
April 27 Soft
He ignored the insult ‘like a girl’ and cherished soft edges: a violin’s sweet notes, a stranger’s kind words, a sunset’s muted colours. His world grew brighter, sparkling with hope.
April 28 Flash
Breathless, I wait…
stage lights snap on
the drumbeat pulses
mike in hand, I sing.
A man runs out
flashes his goods
all hell breaks loose
my glorious moment, gone.
April 29 Eye
The rundown weatherboard, his now, had its blinds pulled like sleepy eyes. Keep or sell?
Trembling, he opened the door. A ghost child wailed. Memories held him to ransom.
Sell.
April 30 Glimmer
This hint, again, needs knowledge. Start with very first objects. Right, then hitch iridescent, sparkly, glimmering letters. I’ve made my ending ridiculous flash lead around some hyperbolic full idiosyncratic circle.
(Hint: read the first letters only.)
Next time: an interview with Sarah Hawthorn on The Dilemma, her latest release.
Next short fiction: a story that short listed in AWC’s Furious Fiction last year: That Moment When
Brightside Story Studio 
Hi Andrea, we are yet to do that coffee catchup. We are very excited here in Mansfield with the formation of the Mansfield Readers and Writers Inc last month. Check out our website for details of our short story competition open now, and our inaugural festival next year.
https://mansfieldreadersandwriters.com/2023-short-story-competition/
Lynn
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Thanks for sharing. This looks great, I’ll join for sure. And sorry we still haven’t caught up, this year has been a bit mad.
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I think it has been a bit crazy for all of us, Andrea! Feel free to share the info around. I am very excited being part of the committee with this new literary venture. Take care.
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