flash contest

Our July 2023 Flash Contest was based on Prompt #260, which asked that participants write a story (or poem) that ended in fireworks. Participants were free to interpret “fireworks” however they desired, with most opting for the literal meaning, however some particularly creative submissions had their own interpretations; one story ended in the northern lights, and another ended in a magical flower bloom. Other submissions ranged from a story about a stubborn and crafty dog to a melancholic story about a baby shower to a story about a woman’s late-life realization. As always, thank you to all you participated, and please keep submitting next month! In particular, we congratulate our Honorable Mentions, listed below, and our Winners, whose work you can appreciate below. Winners “Glow” by Nova Macknik-Conde, 11 “Reflections” by Zoe Pazner, 12 “Fireworks of the Stars” by Makela S, 13 “The Baby Shower” by Zoey Shield, 13 “A Tail of Fireworks and Wonder: Coco’s Sparkling Adventure” by Milly Wang, 10 Honorable Mentions “It’s going to Be Alright” by Kyle Chinchio, 10 “The Deadline” by Mia Goldschmidt, 9 “An Independence Day to Remember” by Isa Hasan, 13 “A Home to Remember” by Madelynn Lee, 12 “Change” by Jeremy Lim, 10 Glow Nova Macknik-Conde, 11 The children dance around the fairy lights Trying to catch them in see-through jars Not sparing a thought that Their gleaming prisoners may die   I would not be so unwise To think I could own fireflies That if I captured them As they fled from me in fright They should be my nightlight   I would sit on my porch and watch Dazzled by the blinking sparks Joining the twinkling stars that make up galaxies That shine against the swirling blues, purples, and blacks   I heave a sigh and pull my curtains shut Thinking of tomorrow’s glorious day, before The night when all the fireworks will crackle in the sky Wondrous shades of red, blue, and white The shy kid that hides when I come over will shout ‘Hooray! It’s America Day!’   And I will wave sparklers and eat S’mores And I will stop worrying for next school year And I will have not a care in the world Far from pain and sadness and hateful comments Wrapped in warmth and kindness and light Reflections Zoe Pazner, 12 I walked along the concrete road leading to a beach side bar. I had walked this path so many times before with my mom, my dad and my brother. I was the only one who was left. We came here every year for the fourth of July, my father always loved watching the fireworks. Now in my old age the memories begin to fade farther into my past and I begin to forget the unforgettable. I took a seat at a table, a feeling of deja vu washing over me like waves as I put my back against the hard chair. Music played loudly but it was still in the background of my thoughts. The chair that sat across from me felt like an empty void waiting to be filled with no one to fill it. For the first time in years I felt truly alone, reflecting on what I now felt was a meaningless life. A young woman snapped me out of my thoughts by asking, “could I borrow this chair for my friend?” I looked over to her table full of life and cheerful chatter with so much envy. I nodded at the girl and she gave me a warm smile, which I promptly returned. The sound of clapping filled the beach as the band finished playing “When Doves Cry” by Prince. When the clapping stopped the singer came to the mike and said, “Thank you! We will now be singing “At Last” by Etta James! I hope you enjoy it.” The crowd grew silent with the exception of a few couples who made shuffling noses as they got up on stage to dance. As I watched the couples dance and the music began to play, I was reminded of a distant memory. Many years ago when I was just five years old I came out of my room and into the living room. My dad stood hunched over the record player as he carefully put the easily damaged record into place. He pressed a silver button and I watched with amazement as the black needle slowly dropped itself onto the record. My dad turned around and smiled at me as the opening chords of “At Last” played through the speakers. By the time I had snapped back to the present the song was over and the couples had sat back down, laughing and smiling. The band leader came back up to the microphone and said, “Alright we’re going to take a break as the fourth of July fireworks commence, have a great night folks!” Many went back to their hotel room roofs to get a better view of the fireworks but I decided to take a stroll instead. I walked along the shoreline letting the water tickle my toes as the sand crunched against my feet. I watched as the waves crashed over and over in a never- ending loop of beautiful blue ocean. Then I heard the first boom of fireworks and looked up to see dazzling colors of red white and blue fill the sky. The colors reflected back on the water, a mere rippled version of the real fireworks shown up above me. Sometimes I think I spent so much time looking down that I ended up missing the magic that was right above my head the whole time. Fireworks of the Stars Makela S, 13 2712 CE SHE WAKES to gray and black: metal walls and threadbare pillows and meager quilts. She jolts upright, chest heaving as she tries to remember where she is, when it is. For a moment, all is darkness, until a message flashes across her vision. Please come. She scrambles forward, panic

Our June 2023 Flash Contest was based on Prompt #256 (provided by Stone Soup intern Sage Millen), which asked that participants write an unusually specific story, one in which a parachutist lands next to the protagonist while the protagonist is sitting on the lawn. The rest of the details, however, were left to the brilliant imaginations of our participants, and they did not disappoint. Submissions ranged from a story about a clueless time traveler named Bob to a story about unsuccessfully meeting a Mr. Beast challenge to a story about two boneheaded “heroes” too focused on who saved their town the most. This week, due to a high volume of stories good enough to be selected for Honorable Mentions, we only chose four winners—two of whom are actually twins!—instead of our usual five, because it was too difficult to elevate one of our honorable mentions over the others. As always, thank you to all you participated, and please keep submitting next month! In particular, we congratulate our Honorable Mentions, listed below, and our Winners, whose work you can appreciate below. Winners “The Spy from the Sky” by Ariel Makri Levy, 11 “The First Snow” by Evelyn Lien, 12 “The Landing” by Isabelle Lien, 12 “Shoot the Moon” by Maya Ruben, 12 Honorable Mentions “Dandelion” by Han-ya Chen, 11 “One Day, One Short Life” by Sophie Li, 12 “Recruiting Mr. Pineapple” by Chloe Lin, 10 “The Heroes of Graztown” by Meg Schmit, 10 “Bob” by Ariel Zhang, 11 The Spy from the Sky Ariel Makri Levi, 11 Willow the fox cascaded down his velvet red staircase, plummeting towards the plate full of breakfast tacos. The kitchen, with wood-paneled cabinets, looked seemingly dormant. He had barely touched them when his sisters, Anne and Chiquita, rocketed out from under the yellow-painted table and seized the tacos. Willow let out a gasp, before regaining his senses and lunging for the tacos and, with one in his hand dashed out their red front door, the knocker letting out a large KNOCK as the door slammed shut. Willow let out a huge sigh of relief, and plonked himself on the lovely, fluffy grass in his front lawn. He had nearly finished his chicken-corn-chip taco when he spotted a small rectangle-shaped silhouette gliding down from the sky. Alarmed, Willow quickly ran into his makeshift tent he had made the night before and ducked for cover. He heard a rustle in the grass outside, and a whimper of, “Oh, no! The boss will be so mad at me now that I’ve accidentally landed in the Fox Lands!” Willow, slowly but surely, inched out of his tent and stared at what was before him. A flying squirrel with a parachuting helmet and gear had just landed in his front lawn! “Hello?” Willow asked.  The flying squirrel jumped up with a jolt and quickly turned around. “Aaaughh! It’s a fox!” screamed the frightened parachuter. “Calm down, calm down. What even are you? You don’t look like a regular squirrel,” said Willow. The parachuter’s face turned a bright shade of pink and he slowly folded out his arms. Willow expected his arms to fold out on their own, but a thin flap of skin connected his arms and legs together, like a parachute! “What’s your name?” asked Willow. “My name’s Jello. Jello Gelatinno Spaghetto Pizzapayo. I work for the Suspiciously Unidentifiable Squirrel Spy Youngsters.” “Did you come to spy on the foxes?” Willow asked suspiciously. “No, no, no! This was all a gargantuan mistake! I meant to land on the Wolf Lands. You know, where the “brave,” “helpful,” and “awesome” wolves live?” Willow shrugged. “Yes, I know.” “So anyway,” Jello continued, “a bizarre force was pushing me back and not allowing me to enter their territory.” “What do you and your squirrel company even want?” questioned Willow. “You see, my boss, Sir Squeaksqueak, is making me perform a bunch of rigorous tasks like spying on the Mad Wolves, sabotaging and preventing them from being wicked, that sort of stuff, and I only get 15 dollars per hour! For being a spy and potentially putting my life in danger!” “I will help you!” announced Willow in triumph. “I am dying for adventure!” After they had both trundled up the stairs to his room, Willow took a blank paper out from his drawer and started writing. Jello leaned in a bit, but Willow’s fur was so puffy, he couldn’t see anything. Willow spun 90 degrees in his chair to look at Jello, with his paper in his sweaty palm. “This is the plan.” he announced. “We will start our own spy business, people will come to us when they need to know something or when they need to protect someone, and if they ask if it’s federally acceptable, we’ll just say we have a relationship with a friend of the president of the Squirrel Lands.” “It’ll be called the Brilliant Anonymous Super Spy Federation!” said Jello. “Are you sure you want to leave The Squirrel Lands?” asked Willow. “Yes, I’m sure,” Jello confirmed, “I think it’s time to take my own path in life.” They marched together out of Willow’s house, and with the parts of Willow’s makeshift tent, they quickly constructed a small cabin with a sign on it reading, “The Brilliant Anonymous Super Spy Federation, your wish is our command.” Customers quickly started coming in, and Jello and Willow were swamped with work. Who knew there was so much drama in the Fox Lands? 12 years later Willow and Jello were strolling down the streets, looking for somewhere to sit down and have a nice cup of coffee. “Hey, look, a veggieterean cafe!” Willow said. “It’s ‘vegetarian,’ not ‘veggieterean.’ Anyway, I’m up for a nice cup of vegetarian coffee!” said Jello. They strutted into the coffee shop, and none other but Jello’s former boss, Sir Squeaksqueak, was sitting at one of the tables! “Hi, what’s up?” asked Jello. “I just want to say I’m really sorry,” Sir Squeaksqueak said, “for making you