Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists

Our September Flash Contest was based on Prompt #219 (provided by Stone Soup intern Sage Millen), which asked that participants simply write a scene in which two people are lying to each other. This straight forward prompt led to some brilliant writing, all of which was structured in distinct, fascinating ways. One story focused on two characters running together with the dramatic irony that neither character actually wanted to be running. Another story pitted a man and a woman fated to be married against each other, both of them lying about their happiness. And another story told a cautionary tale about a pair of wily friends in a magic forest, and the escalation of trickery. As always, we thank all who submitted and encourage you to submit again next month! In particular, we congratulate our Winners and our Honorable Mentions, whose work you can appreciate below. Winners “The Job Offer” by Dev Agarwal, 13 “Coyote Falls” by Elise Buck, 11 “The King’s Plan” by Eiaa Dev, 13 “Running in Circles” by Marin Hamory, 11 “Happiness” by Lui Lung, 13 Honorable Mentions “Liar” by Asha Akkinepally, 12 “Saving of Rabbitland” by Claire Chen, 11 “Exchange of Power” by Sophie Li, 11 “The Two Explorers of Gorklin” by Aryaman Majumder, 11″ “Lying” by June Schaffer, 9 The Job Offer Dev Agarwal, 13 Tuesday, 5:03 pm A prolonged silence spread through the room like a poisonous gas. It diseased the two people, a man and a woman, sitting on opposite ends of a sofa within it. Both appeared somewhat confused, yet each seemed to be trying to muster up the courage to speak first. Finally, a single word, thoroughly checked before it passed the man’s lips, cut through the nauseating quiet like a bullet. “Huh.” This solitary remark conveyed more meaning to the woman than all the words in the dictionary. She stirred slightly, but, other than that, displayed no reaction whatsoever. Yet, a thousand thoughts were darting across the expanse of her mind.   Rebecca, 5:05 PM Ok. This is a lot to process in one go, but I guess you’re just gonna have to stick with me on this one. First things first: I’m Rebecca, I’m a freelance psycho-therapist, and I’ve been married to Peter for, what, five years now? Seems like a lifetime. Anyways, a couple of months ago, Peter got a call from a friend from his old job who hit it big-time in a tech company up in the States. The call was about the same company, and get this: HE OFFERED PETER A JOB. Well, not really. He basically said that a position had just opened up and that Peter was perfect for it. And it wasn’t even a small desk job either — it was a pretty solid position. I have to say, the call excited me. A lot. I could tell that Peter didn’t like the fact that he’d have to move from here in the UK to LA. I mean, in my opinion, the location would be a lot better. He still applied, though — you know, just to amuse the guy who offered it. He submitted his resume last week, and the craziest thing happened.   5:07 pm “You got The Job,” Rebecca said finally, her awed tone turning it into a proper noun. “I got The Job,” replied Peter in a dazed monotone. At this point, Rebecca had settled into quite an awkward position, her body desperately trying to pull it off. Her head was held high and her back perfectly straight, yet her hands were clamped between her legs, and she made no attempt to pick up the glass of water on the table in front of her that her throat so desperately craved. Peter’s situation was not much better, his body clenched tightly together as if he were a bomb that could explode any minute. He didn’t know what to think, yet he thought regardless.   Peter, 5:08 pm Hello. My name is Peter O’Sullivan, and I’ve been born and bred in Britain. I have a wife, called Rebecca, and I recently received a call concerning — well, hardly a job offer, but something along those lines. The call was for a company that my ex-colleague, Mark Villami, started working for 7 years ago. In fact, he made the call. It’s a desk job, but I could do with some novelty in my life. Not that the pay is any worse. I wasn’t so keen on it because it was easy to tell that Rebecca wasn’t comfortable with one aspect: we’d have to move to the suburbs of Los Angeles. I submitted an application regardless, and what do you know? I got the offer! I’ve been terribly keen to take it, but for reasons described above, I’m probably going to turn it down. Not now, however; I’m interested in Rebecca’s take on it.   5:09 pm “You don’t have to take it if you really don’t want to,” commented Rebecca in a passive-aggressive manner. She turned to look at him, but Peter replied with a blank stare. This could only mean one thing.   Rebecca, 5:09 PM Yeah, I don’t think Peter wants to take it.   Peter, 5:10 pm After a thorough appraisal of that statement, it is clear that Rebecca doesn’t want me to accept the job offer. All to my dismay, of course, though I must say, I am doing rather well at trying to act cool.   5:10 pm Finally, Peter broke the stare and stated matter-of-factly, “Rebecca. I completely agree with you, and I don’t want to take the job.” Something twitched in Rebecca’s face. “I never told you to not take it,” she said quickly. “So you want me to take the job offer?” “No, no, uh, I don’t want you to take it, I never did. I like our life here, you know, in London, in this one-bedroom flat. I’d never ask you to leave!” “Right. Glad we’re in agreement then.”  “Yeah, no,