Winning Stories – Page 2 – CRANKED ANVIL PRESS

Short Stories…

FLIP FLOP by James Hancock (3rd place Apr20)

11 Jun 202017 Jun 2021

Barry was a flip flop. Kid's size eleven, regal blue, with white stripes and a slightly worn underside. He was the right, and his brother, Gary, was the left. Brothers,…

Short Stories…

TURNSTONE by Nicki Parkins (1st place Jan20)

15 Mar 202017 Jun 2021

I brought the stone home from the beach. I often do that. There are so many beautiful stones and I end up bringing home too many. Then I have to…

Short Stories…

THE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS by Joe Bedford (2nd place Jan20)

15 Mar 202017 Jun 2021

The banknotes were transported in several large cases to the Bank of England. From them, a dozen batches were picked for inspection. Staff in rubber gloves examined the print, the…

Short Stories…

NEVER GOING GREEN by Sherry Morris (3rd place Jan20)

15 Mar 202017 Jun 2021

In Lesterville, we know the phrase Recycle, Reuse, and Reduce, we just choose to ignore it. Not because we’re against saving the planet, or don’t understand the plastic problem. We…

Short Stories…

SURFACE TENSION by Andy Banks (1st place Oct19)

12 Dec 201917 Jun 2021

The sky was dying a red death when we eventually reached the swamp. We’d been walking for so long that the village was nothing more than a huddled mass of…

Short Stories…

WHEN DEATH CALLS by Claire Wilson (2nd place Oct19)

12 Dec 201927 Jan 2021

‘I remembered the nail clippers, mum.’ If she had the strength to look down and see the state her fingernails had gotten into, she would have been mortified. If she…

Short Stories…

SPITTING IMAGE by Gwenda Major (3rd place Oct19)

12 Dec 201917 Jun 2021

It’s weird but when people have been saying the same thing to you over and over for years, it’s really hard to remember when it first began. So I can…

Short Stories…

BRENDA HAS THE PATIENCE TO ENDURE IT by Joanne Leonard (1st place Jul19)

11 Sep 201917 Jun 2021

Brenda pulls the mop from side to side across the kitchenette floor, slapping it to the kickboards on either side. It’s too wet, and she curses herself for not wringing…

Short Stories…

HYPOGEAL by Michele Seagrove (2nd place Jul19)

11 Sep 201917 Jun 2021

The loudspeaker crackles and all the passengers look up expectantly. I strain to hear but can only make out the muffled words: ‘Ealing Broadway’ and ‘delays’. I sigh. ‘Bloody hell,’…

Short Stories…

REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE by Sonia Trickey (3rd place Jul19)

11 Sep 201917 Jun 2021

I go to Waitrose every Saturday morning to eye up the men I wish I’d married. I leave my reusable, upcycled cup in the bike trailer and queue for a…

Short Stories…

NOTHING BUT ASHES by Jason Jackson (3rd place Apr19)

11 Jun 201917 Jun 2021

It’s Friday, and she’s gone. They’ve talked - it’s all they’ve done for weeks, because words are what she’s good at - but now the house is quiet. On the…

Short Stories…

A BLACK AND WHITE SUMMER by Alyson Hilbourne (2nd place Apr19)

11 Jun 201917 Jun 2021

In my hand is the black and white photo taken by Dad with his Box Brownie camera the last summer my family went to the beach. Behind me is the…

Short Stories…

HORSE TRADING by Barbara Young (1st place Apr19)

11 Jun 201927 Jan 2021

“Good looking vanner you got there.” The old man wearing ratty jeans and a thin blue jumper curls gnarled, swollen fingers through Gerry’s long black mane. “I might know someone…