Winners of Darkness 101: Lessons Were Learned
We are excited to announce the three winners of our horror flash fiction contest! Darkness 101: Lessons Were Learned.
We had some really great submissions, but here are our three favorites. We want to thank everyone who participated and our sponsor LeStallion Premium Notebooks. The three winners each received a free premium notebook.
1st Winner
Abby Bathurst
The Truth
That day was the worst of my life. Never had I felt so alone, isolated, from the rest of the world. The people I care about. It was poetic, how tragically beautiful it was. Orange hues blended with my darkened skin, morphing into a sunset silhouette. My wrists encircled by silver bracelets, biting my flesh. Distant shouts from loved ones echoed into my ears as they bounced off the stone walls. Darkness encased my body. It was then that I realized life’s lesson: no matter what happens, you will end up alone in the end. That day I learnt the truth.
2nd Winner
Peter V. Hilton
Too Late to Leave Narrabri
Tuesday’s paper landed on the veranda as The Courier, reduced to The Cour by the time I walked out front, a hundred tiny bite marks where the rest used to be. The nesting has come to Narrabri, I reckon. Three nights come and gone and the house fares no better. In the darkness the floors are roiling; an undulating mass of mangy fur and tiny, tiny teeth. Before bed I rang Jermaine down in Quakers Hill but the line cut out, cord falling victim to the all-consuming nest. Any second now any second now any second now I know I’ll be—
3rd Winner
Brianna Malotke
Just One Spoonful More
She woke up with a smile, naturally plastered on her face. No loud yelling, no lingering muscle aches. The sun seemed brighter, eclipsing all of the darkness that had once inhabited her home. She moved through the old Victorian home with a spring in her step.
Silence blanketed over her throughout the home, so unusual, but very welcoming. She loved every minute of this new solitude, dancing around, doing whatever she pleased. It had taken a few tries, but she had finally figured out the way to freedom from him.
Finally tasting freedom, her secret—arsenic in his sugar jar.
We are strongly considering publishing many of the submissions we received into a new book next year. We would need more stories to do so, so if you want to submit to the collection send your flash fiction pieces (101 words exactly in the theme of “lessons were learned”) to CollectiveTalesPublishing@gmail.com