Mrs Mulhern's telephone rings at her bedside at 11.37 pm. She registers the time as she snaps on the light, glad she wasn't asleep. These days, it takes her a while to collect her thoughts when she wakes, and whoever's calling could ring off— although that might be no bad thing. 'Hello?' She speaks cautiously. … Continue reading A GUTTERING CANDLE by Dianne Bown-Wilson (1st Place, June25)

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your half-hour call.  You have thirty minutes until curtain up, thank you.” As the announcement was made by the theatre manager over the tannoy, the company stage manager Gerry scoured backstage, just the slightest hint of concern starting to edge into her consciousness.  “Has anybody seen Derek?  Derek’s missing.” A … Continue reading BEGINNERS PLEASE by B W Frimston (2nd Place, June25)

My first thought when I woke up was that I was cold. Freezing cold, colder than I had ever been before. You know how the mind tries to make sense of situations that you don’t understand? I spent a long time, or so it seemed, trying to figure out why I felt so bone-chillingly frozen … Continue reading LEAVE TO REMAIN by Ros Levenson (3rd Place, June25)

A pigeon nestles, invisible, on a steel branch behind three security cameras, each angled towards the road. A whirring too slight to disturb the bird emits from the cameras when their data transfers to digital vaults thousands of miles away. While the pigeon slowly preens itself, the cameras, awaiting the afternoon northbound traffic, observe. At … Continue reading OBSERVATION by E J Taylor (1st place, Apr24)

"NOT LIKE THAT, Y’EEJIT!” The bellowing was only half audible in the whistling wind. “Michael! … MICHAEL! … For the love of God will you STOP before you do yourself a mischief!" I jerked back the blowlamp with a curse that my Ma, God rest her, would've clipped my ear for. My workmate pushed up … Continue reading A YEARNING FOR BANANAS by Taria Karillion (2nd place, Apr24)

[EDITOR'S NOTE: this story deals with themes that some people may find upsetting] I  We came last. The other teams laughed at us. Most of them did it behind our backs but a few of them were brave enough to laugh in our faces. You have to be brave to laugh at Jimmy: he might … Continue reading MY HANDS by Dominik Slusarczyk (1st place, Jan24)

There are four people in the Bennet family photograph, but there are five stories to tell. SHIRLEY’S STORY: This picture was taken on the day the beautiful lady came. I saw her come round the side of the house. She was waving and saying, ‘Cooee’. No-one else noticed her at first - they were all … Continue reading THE PHOTOGRAPH by Jill Forrest (2nd place, Jan24)

“That’s £6.50, please,” I said, flashing the customer my mouth-only smile; it never reached my eyes here. The fluorescent lights glared and buzzed annoyingly. I was tired, on the verge of a headache. “Are you fucking kidding, it’s a sandwich love!” he snorted. Obviously I’d heard that before, and obviously the price was ridiculous. I … Continue reading YEAR OF THE TIGER by Lianne Warr (1st place, Oct22)