{"id":107,"date":"2017-05-13T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-13T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk\/index.php\/2017\/05\/13\/nffd-2017-micro-fiction-competition-results\/"},"modified":"2017-05-13T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-05-13T11:00:00","slug":"nffd-2017-micro-fiction-competition-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk\/index.php\/2017\/05\/13\/nffd-2017-micro-fiction-competition-results\/","title":{"rendered":"NFFD 2017 Micro Fiction Competition Results!"},"content":{"rendered":"
Well, it feels as if it was only yesterday that we announced the longlist for our 100-word micro-fiction competition for 2017. And it was. But now, without having kept you waiting for too long, we’re pleased to present the winners.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I said in the last post, we had nearly 600 entries for this year’s competition, and a word of thanks must again go to the judges \u2013 Anne Patterson, Kevlin Henney, Ingrid <\/span><\/span>Jendrzejewski<\/span>, Angela Readman, Tim Stevenson and Rob Walton \u2013 for all of their hard work in reading through entries and making the difficult decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to everyone who entered, and remember, if you weren’t successful this time, there will be plenty more chances for you to be involved with National Flash-Fiction Day. Just go to the website at <\/span><\/span>http:\/\/host2021.temp.domains\/~nationo0\/<\/span><\/a> to find out more.<\/span><\/p>\n

Below are a list of the top ten stories, and below that we have shared the stories so you can see for yourselves what great winners we have. Each story will also be published on the National Flash Fiction Day website and in our 2017 Anthology. Please join us in congratulating these fine writers!<\/o:p><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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First Place Winner: <\/span><\/b>\u2018Fifth Grade\u2019 by Brianna Snow<\/b><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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Second Place Winner: <\/span><\/b>\u2018Geology of a Girl\u2019 by Stephanie Hutton<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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Third Place Winner: <\/span><\/b>\u2018As Liquid is Poured\u2019 by Sherry Morris<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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Highly Commended Stories:<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
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\u2018Brave\u2019 by Catherine Edmunds<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
\u2018Mermaids\u2019 by Sally Syson<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
\u2018Fireflies in the Backyard\u2019 by Kayla Pongrac<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
\u2018Fawn\u2019 by Sacha Waldron<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
\u2018Mango\u2019 by Jennifer Harvey<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
\u2018The In-Between Hour\u2019 by Christina Taylor<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
\u2018The Smoking Circle\u2019 by Alison Wassell<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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First Place Winner: <\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\u2018Fifth Grade\u2019 <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
by Brianna Snow<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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We learn that there are tubes inside of us with sleeping babies. One day, boys will wake them up. The babies will grow, open our bodies, and fall out. Until then, we\u2019ll bleed\u2014a baby\u2019s death each month. Ms. Miller sits at her desk in the back of the room while the video plays. We turn to her to see if this is true. She\u2019s holding her stomach with both hands. We look down and do the same. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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Second Place Winner: <\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\u2018Geology of a Girl\u2019 <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
by Stephanie Hutton<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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Ella kept one pebble in her pocket and rubbed it down to sand, running the grains through her fingers. Stones sneaked in through holes in her shoes. Her legs turned to rock. She leant against the sisterhood of brick on the playground and watched girls skip together like lambs. A boulder weighed heavy in her stomach. She curled forwards by habit. Her head filled with the detritus of life. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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A new girl started school in May with fire in her eyes. She whispered to Ella with aniseed breath \u2018lava is liquid rock,<\/i>\u2019 then took her hand and ran.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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Third Place Winner: <\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\u2018As Liquid is Poured\u2019 <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
by Sherry Morris<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I visit far-flung friends who possess a dancing bear and a well-stocked vodka cabinet. We sit around the kitchen table in our coats, watching my breath form clouds. \u2018At least the shot glasses are chilled,\u2019 my friend says.  <\/span>I\u2019m grateful for their hospitality and anticipate the warmth that begins in my belly and spreads outward. We drink to our health, sing melancholy tunes about lavender fog and eat dark bread. I no longer feel the cold. I will stay here. I won\u2019t be missed there. There, people are replaced like vodka bottles. The bear twirls on hind legs and claps.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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Highly Commended Stories:<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
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\u2018Brave\u2019 <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
by Catherine Edmunds<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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The man arrives in a car with dark windows. Father, who is brave, stands in the yard while the pigs squeal and run. The man pushes Father\u2019s shoulder. The cockerel struts, the man raises his hand. Father shrinks.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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I gather the others and we run down the stinking lane; I tell them Father\u2019s play-acting, he\u2019ll kill the man later. They like that. They\u2019ve seen Father cut a squealer\u2019s throat. I lead them away down to the mill race, into danger, but it\u2019s just water, full of noise. Try to pick it up and it slips through your fingers. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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\u2018Mermaids\u2019 <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
by Sally Syson<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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The mermaids are much uglier than anyone had anticipated, slimy-haired and scabby with barnacles. They haul themselves up onto the sea wall, stinking like a barrel of prawns, and lie flashing their tits at passers-by. They snatch at the ankles of the small boys who dare to pelt them with chips and cans. Their language is appalling.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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On Friday nights, when the promenade glistens with broken glass and the splintered remains of cocktail charms \u2014<\/span>pretty plastic mermaids in pink and green and blue \u2014<\/span>they retreat to the shoreline and gather along the water\u2019s edge, hissing in the dark.<\/o:p><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
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\u2018Fireflies in the Backyard\u2019 <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
by Kayla Pongrac<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In the summertime, when these little roving lanterns covet my backyard, slicing their way through the darkness one flight at a time, I step outside and I extend my tongue, snowflake-style, so that I can jar and lid them inside my stomach. How I want to glow, too\u2014how I want to become both the illuminated and the illuminator.  <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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\u2018Fawn\u2019 <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
by Sacha Waldron<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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Taking the fawn had not been her initial intention. She was feeding it saltines from the palm of her hand, stroking his soft head. She liked the way his tongue felt on her skin. She was, she realised, running out of crackers and soon the deer would scamper off. Its run reminded her of a carousel \u2013 rising and falling.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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She crouched down, opened her backpack and scattered some of the remaining crumbs inside. The fawn followed them. She zipped up her bag quickly. As she walked out of the park she could feel little hooves sticking awkwardly into her spine. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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\u2018Mango\u2019 <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
by Jennifer Harvey<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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Johnny tells me I\u2019m sweeter than mango. He\u2019s standing with his back against the wall, one foot up against the brickwork, like some fifties rebel.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
            Yeah? You like exotic fruit, Johnny? If I had the guts, I\u2019d say this. Walk on by all sassy, like I owned him. Meet his gaze and wait for a reply. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
            Your move, Johnny. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
            But he made his move already. Watched me sat in the canteen, licking mango juice from my fingers. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
            One finger, two fingers, three fingers, four. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
            Smiling, \u2018cos he knew it was him I was thinking of.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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\u2018The In-Between Hour\u2019 <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
by Christina Taylor<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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While you sleep I\u2019ll kiss all the boys I shouldn\u2019t kiss and wear dresses that scream \u2018You\u2019re not going out in that!\u2019<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
            I\u2019ll learn another language so I can talk about you behind your back. I\u2019ll dye my hair blue then sneak out of the house to release the dogs. We\u2019ll bark at the moon and set off car alarms. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
In that hour I\u2019ll skinny dip in the river and count the goose bumps on my arms. I\u2019ll fly round the sun and eat cake for breakfast. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
I\u2019ll do all that but I\u2019ll never say I love you.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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\u2018The Smoking Circle\u2019 <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
by Alison Wassell<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
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We lay in a circle on the field every afternoon, our heads together, school bags for pillows. She was the new girl, refusing to light up until we called her Goody Two Shoes. We stared at the clouds.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
        <\/span>\u2018What would you do if you only had a week to live?\u2019 someone asked. She answered first.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
        <\/span>\u2018I\u2019d write to everyone who\u2019d hurt me. Tell them what I thought of them.\u2019<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
        <\/span>She was the one who developed a forty a day habit. The letter came sealed with a lipstick kiss. I suppose we all got one. I shredded mine without reading it.<\/span> <\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, it feels as if it was only yesterday that we announced the longlist for our 100-word micro-fiction competition for 2017. And it was. But now, without having kept you waiting for too long, we’re pleased to present the winners. As I said in the last post, we had nearly 600 entries for this year’s … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalflashfictionday.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}