Greetings, flash fictioneering friends! We are happy to announce the winner(s) of Microcosms 194!
This week, we are pleased to continue with “The Karen Cox Prize for Entertaining Short Fiction”, brought to you by Alert Terminal Warehouse.
MC 194 Winners!
And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for… Without further ado, it’s time to announce the winner(s) of MC 194!
Community Pick
Huge congrats (and bragging rights) go to our Community Pick:
- Laura Cooney
Great job, Laura!
Judge’s Pick
And the Judge’s Pick, and winner of this week’s $25 Karen Cox Prize for Entertaining Short Fiction, is:
Drumroll, please!
- Laura Cooney
That’s right – we have a double dipper! Congrats, Laura! Please contact us for instructions on how to accept your prize and also let us know if you’d like to judge MC 197!
Here’s what judge AJ Walker had to say:
This is the second time I’ve judged Microcosms since its current iteration And it was just as difficult as last time. All ten entries had their attractions in terms of the stories they told and the way in which they were told. I was little surprised that more people went for the poem prompt than the action one. But then again I really think that maybe people have less of a liking for flies than for turtles. Who knew!?
I whittled it down to my top four and then three and it was a close call between the three in the end.
I really liked the space story ‘O-Ring Wormhole’. It was clever with the idea of miniature drones controlled from planetary distances away (and maybe a lot further) and then the astronauts from the Challenger being found alive at the end. I do enjoy SF a lot (hey my favourite TV series are Firefly, Expanse, and Battlestar Galactica (not the original one!). So kudos for that story.
But as well as SF I’m also a big fan of geology (planetary or otherwise) and so in the end I had to go for ‘Space and Time and Mountains and Heat is Not Enough to Say I Love You.’ The title may be a mouthful to say if you love someone (or a dog, or a turtle; or even a fly) that much, but if you do love something that much then a challenging mouthful is fair enough to expect. Rocks, and sand, and heat and pressure. Metamorphic processes. No gold. But time and history and love contained and spilled from an hourglass. Love it. The moment is lost, but the entry has won.
Andy
HUGE thanks to Andy for judging this week!
Judge’s Pick Entry
As a reminder, here is the story that won over our judge!
Space and Time and Mountains and Heat is Not Enough to Say I Love You.
162 words
Turtle / Jewelery Store / Poem
Laura Cooney
http://www.lozzawriting.com
Twitter.com/lozzawriting
Optional: Yes, I am open to derivative works, including audio productions. Please contact me via one of the above channels for more information.
First there is space and time.
Then rock and movement.
Millenia pass.
Fine grains of sand slowly
Cascade,
Embed,
And are collected.
Intense heat and pressure is how it really begins.
Began.
It was a Wednesday,
I remember that.
The window glittered
With all that was not gold.
In seeming clarity,
A sea glass turtle.
We were friends,
right up until that moment.
Gently brushed skin.
The spoiling of years.
A chunk of time and sand.
The hourglass turns.
What all occurred to bring us,
To this moment.
In this doorway?
On a Wednesday.
Of all days.
Jagged shards cut deep,
Smoothed by years.
How much the mountain went through,
To get here.
How much must we go through,
To get there?
The bell rings and 4 solid feet skitter to mama.
And the moment is lost.
Space and time and
Mountain and heat,
Lies loved in a box,
On a shelf,
In a room.
Waiting all that time.
And more again.
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