The Man picks at the wallpaper. He wants to get underneath it, to bring the whole lot off in one.'I thought you might like …'A mug appears.'Thank you,' the Man says, still looking at the wall.'Do you think you should …?’ his son says, ‘I mean … the new people … ''The new people are … Continue reading THE WALL by Mandy Wheeler (1st place, Flash May22)

Caroline Richardson hasn’t moved for seven years. Today is her thirteenth birthday, but she’s still only five years old. When it rains, she’s beneath the puddles she would have liked to jump in. When the sun shines, it can’t reach her face to warm it. She can’t gather the conkers and chestnuts that fall above … Continue reading THE SEVEN YEAR SPELL by Rowan Evans (2nd place, Flash May22)

There are five discrete stages of decomposition that summarise post-mortem physiochemical changes. For the entomologist, there’s a predictable succession of arthropods. Orders Diptera (true flies) and Coleoptera (beetles) provide the families most valuable to medico-legal investigations. --- Seminar Speaker Notes: 1. Fresh StageFamilies: Calliphoridae, Sarcophagidae Following death there’s a cascade of processes: Pallor, Algor, Rigor … Continue reading POST MORTEM: THE PROLIFERATION OF LIFE AFTER DEATH by JP Relph (3rd place, Flash May22)