The latest batch of six-word stories

Hello. It’s been a really long time since we had any six-word stories. In fact it’s been almost a year; tenth November last year, since I posted any. That’s because I’ve only had four submissions since then. So without further ado, here they are:

From: Valerie Fish – Writing from the heart

• Born too soon, died too soon.
• Baby’s first steps; mum’s at work.
• Yesterday ninety, today my father’s gone.
• Even beds of roses have thorns.
• Writing’s saved me, thank the lord.
• Another month gone, another chance missed.

From: Susanne Stahley – writer, director, fiction, documentaries

• Even store perfume girls ignored Jeanne.
• Wintertime, snowbirds shunned the ripening blueberries.
• Without warning, the knife dripped scarlet.
• Angie flawlessly skated the ice electric.
• Waited… the dot never became plane.
• Red, purple, green. Worse hat ever.

From: Rehanna, connecting you with your audiences

• She stopped crying when she realised.
• Superglue never conceals damage to vases.
• Fee fi fo fum crunch burp.
• Pig uses bricks: enjoys wolf soup.
• As he fell, she jumped too.
• He gained confidence through attempting fiction.
• Nice hairstyle! It’s a wig. Chemo.
• Six words flash brightly on Twitter.

From: Maryam Kurbanova, writes poetry and essays

• Love it. Got it. Regretted it.
• Covered in chocolate. Got a smack.
• House on fire. Cousins came over.
• Last cookie. Time out. She started.
• I was happy, careless. A dream.
• Big shiny trophies. Mostly not mine.
• Bought the china. It collects dust.
• Tornado was here. Cleaned it yesterday.

From: Chong Teck SIM, Singapore, Bookworm, Volunteer

• Shaking bed. Vibrating floorboard. Annoyed neighbours.
• Fake watches. Unsuspecting tourists. Smirking businessman.
• Kidney stone. Flank pain. Distressed patient.
• Mentorship programme. Eighty-nine applicants. None successful.
• Graduation ceremony. Uninvited guest: acne cyst.
• Oxbridge summer programmes. Successful admission. Yay!
• Tomato-red soup. One spoonful: coughing fits.
• Spendthrift lifestyle. Little savings. Painful retirement.
• Speed dating. Pretty woman. No suitors.
• Wealthy family. Handsome lover. Still miserable…

Thank you everyone. They were fabulous!

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: October 2019

Hello everyone and welcome to the fiftieth month of this competition. There were 35 entries from 19 authors for the theme of ‘praise’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked.

One author sadly had all three stories disqualified for being under the 100-word requirement. Another entrant had one of their three stories disqualified for being 99 words. There was a word that should have been hyphenated but it still only counts as one word. Another of the same entrant’s story was 103 words for no apparent reason other than having too many words, which was a shame. Even more so that the remaining story was only 97 words so also disqualified.

Another ended up being 99 words because a time period hadn’t been hyphenated (two week break instead of two-week break). Fortunately the author had sent in two other stories, one of which I preferred anyway so that went through to the final judging.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a strong link to the theme – and this is very much the case this month – so it’s often worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it.

You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

Apart from the top three and highly commended, there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.

*The theme for November is ‘not his / her fault’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Saturday 30th November. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

*

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

Jane Brown with ‘The Faulty Bot’

The first praise-bot rolls past. “You’re fantastic!” it says.
“Pass,” records Gavin, sighing. Quality control testing is just so boring.
More praise-bots roll by, one by one. Each spouting admiration.
“You are very intelligent.”
“Nice hair.”
“You smell lovely.”
“Great outfit.”
“You have a huge arse.”
“Stop test!” yells Gavin. “Fail.” he says, picking up the faulty bot.
Suddenly, Ted from Testing Room 2 runs in.
“Code red! We have a situation – a truth-bot is missing! Ah, there it is.” He grabs it carefully from Gavin’s hands and leaves.
Gavin trundles over to the mirror, examines his arse and sighs.

*

Second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

Jane Broughton with ‘Plant Life’
We talked to all the plants in a cursory way, chatting as we tended them, but we’d agreed to experiment by lavishing one with constant and continual praise.
We told it how beautiful, how clever, how strong it was and it responded.
It flourished.
Its stem thickened and its leaves became bushy. It was by far the tallest specimen and it even seemed to twist slightly towards the sound of our footsteps each morning.
That final day the first indication we had were the sharp blades of shattered glass outside the greenhouse.
We didn’t realise our mistake until too late.

*

Two joint third place (each winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

Astra Lowelle with ‘Hearing and Listening’
Willow had been playing violin for years. She knew she was a first-rate player, even if no one ever told her.
She knew because her music teacher nearly had a tantrum when she had called in sick a day before the recital. She knew because her mother had refused her a normal childhood ever since she had begun to take lessons. It was always one concert after the next.
But she wished someone would say she was good.
Even once.
But she realized they wouldn’t, so she’d learnt to really listen, and her violin told her each time she played.

and… Darren York with ‘First day nerves
I could see she was his.
They had the same eyes, same shaped face and the nose: straight, with a slight kink on the bridge.
I held her hand and led her to her chair at the front of my classroom.
She’d been crying; first day nerves getting the better of her.
She would be with me now for a whole year, a long time to be reminded of your husband’s infidelity.
I was a professional, these things happen.
She drew a picture of herself with ‘mummy and daddy.’
It hurt, but I smiled. “Well done, Stacy, that’s really nice.”

*

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitions course worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

• Carol Allison with ‘Living Her Best Life’
• Jennie Cordner with ‘Praise Be’
• Joyce Bingham with ‘The Humble Vegetable’
• Laura Besley with ‘Watch and Learn’
• Paul Mastaglio with ‘At The First Stroke’

*

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

• Alan Barker with ‘Badge of Honour’
• Ian Marshall with ‘Songs of Praise’
• Isabel Flynn with ‘Birds of a Feather’
• Lesley McLean with ‘Praise You’
• Sophie Toovey with ‘Meritocracy’

*

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com., although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: September 2019

Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-ninth month of this competition. There were 34 entries from 19 authors for the theme of ‘conservatory’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked.

Two were disqualified for being 98 and 99 words. Fortunately both authors had submitted other stories… yay. I offer a maximum of three because I enjoy reading stories but also in case one or more is disqualified. Oh yes, always half glass full. 🙂 One was 101 because there was no space between sentences so ‘it.Mum’ had counted as one word but obviously aren’t. Fortunately the author had submitted two other stories of exactly 100 words so they were fine.

Three others, sadly all from the same author, were 99 (two words should have been one), 97 (don’t know why) and 101 (because there was a word missing). The author was a regular entrant so there’s always next month. Another ended up being 98 because mother in law hadn’t been hyphenated (https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/mother-in-law).

One missed out because, however hard I tried, it had nothing to do with this month’s theme.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a stronger link to the theme so it’s worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it. There are often stories similar in plot so some may have missed out being placed purely because there was another story that beat them purely for that reason.

You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

Apart from the top three and highly commended, there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.

*The theme for October is ‘praise’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Thursday 31st October. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

*

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

David Giles with ‘Keeping Quiet’ – partly because I love inanimate objects being the main character

The conservatory is the place where things are kept, maintained.
It remembers things. Things that were meant to remain secret. It remembers the shouts, the kicks, the slaps, the curses, the mutterings, the shot, the slump, the sawing, the digging, the wake, the comings and goings, and the purposeful plod of Detective Inspector Sparks.
And, just as Mr Sparks is about to give up his investigation, it will reveal its secrets: the creak and warp of a carelessly replaced floorboard, the steady release of a suspiciously putrid tang, the previously unnoticed stray hair.
And then the search team will arrive.

*

Second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

Chris Tattersall with ‘So Close Yet So Far’

 

He sat looking through the glass of the conservatory, admiring the flowers beyond. The colours were vibrant, the smells he imagined would be a sensual bombardment. He craved to pass through the doors into Eden but alas his condition wouldn’t allow it.
He placed a gentle hand against the pane where millimetres away a lily rested its petal.
She didn’t see a man that cared, she saw a vagrant, dirty palm on the glass and peering into the conservatory of her lonely isolated existence.
She screamed, he ran.
Their mutual passion could save them both, if only they knew it.

*

Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

Sophie Toovey with ‘Ruby’

He looked up at the clear panels of glass, held together by an iron web.
The stars were visible, though faint glimmers of light in the velvet sky.
The air was cold.
He brushed his hand against the rough carpet and felt the sharp pain sear his finger.
Sitting up, he retrieved the shard and pressed the wound.
There would be blood.
He looked down at the broken picture.
Ruby drops to mourn forty years he lost. He smiled at the grim irony.
Picking up a smooth stone, he raised his arm and watched the stars blink. Then he threw.

*

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitionscourse worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

• Alan Barker with ‘Touch and Go’
• Anne-Marie Latter with ‘Home Improvements’
• Carol Allison with ‘Afternoon Tea’
• Laura Besley with ‘When the Muse Refuses’
• Valerie Fish with ‘Rotten Tomatoes’

*

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

• Darren York with ‘Cold Caller’
• Isabel Flynn with ‘Those Who Live In Glass Houses Cannot Throw Stones’
• Katie Jones with ‘Top Secret’
• Paul Mastaglio with ‘Who Did It?’
• Rebecca Price with ‘In the Conservatory’

*

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com., although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.

The free 100-word comp is open for October

Yes, September is closed and October’s theme of ‘praise’ is open, to be used however you see fit. For details, please take a look at the 100-word comp page.

It’s a free competition and you can win free …Editing and Critique or my Creative Writing Online Courses.

The page also lists the upcoming themes for the next few months so you can write them whenever you like but don’t submit early as they’ll be disqualified. Good luck.

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: August 2019

Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-eighth month of this competition. There were 44 entries from 21 authors for the theme of ‘escalator’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked.

A record (I think) ten stories were disqualified this month. Two for only being 99 words – one had the same word written twice the other had an ‘a’ missing before a noun (t-shirt in this case) which was a real shame because it was the only submission from a new entrant. Another had a word missing (don’t come to grief) so would have been 101. And another had ‘rude’ instead of ‘ride’ so lost points. Please read your submissions carefully before pressing ‘submit’.

One for 98 words because a describing adjective (soon to be) was not hyphenated when it should have been. Sadly the only entry from its (regular) participant. Another was 98 words for no apparent reason but did include ‘five-year-old’ (correctly) which could have been manually counted as three words. Fortunately the (new to this competition) author submitted two other stories although sadly one of those was also short: 99 originally but had ‘the the’ incorrectly so actually 98. Another was 99 because a word had been split when it should have been one (mismanagement). It’s a shame because it was a great story but the author had submitted two others (both 100) so my favourite of those went through. Another 99-worder was downgraded from 100 words because an adjective (dark haired) should have been hyphenated. It’s only fair to all entrants to have the same rules apply to everyone.

If you’re not using Word, please copy/paste your stories into the likes of http://wordcounter.net to ensure your story is exactly 100 words.

Another (one of three from a new entrant) lost points because it referred to an elevator (lift) as an escalator, which was a shame as it was my favourite story up to that point. Another piece had ‘stories’ for levels of a building, which is correct in US English (which it was) but we say ‘storeys’ here in Britain so not an error but it happens a fair amount in the UK novels I edit so worth a mention here.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a strong link to the theme so it’s worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it.

You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

Apart from the top three and highly commended, there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.

*The theme for September is ‘conservatory’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Monday 30th September. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

Laura Besley with ‘Ships Passing’

Ascending: a girl, eyes bright and blue.
Descending: a boy, tired brown eyes.
Ascending: she checks her phone for work emails.
Descending: he plays a game on his phone.
Ascending: she looks up from her phone, sees brown eyes. Smiles.
Descending: he looks up from his phone, sees blue eyes. Smiles.
Ascending: she gets to the top, turns and looks down.
Descending: he gets to the bottom, turns and looks up.
On terra firma…
Briefly she hesitates, but then her phone pings and reclaims her attention.
He contemplates going back up, but he’s worried he won’t know what to say.

*

Second place (winning free access to two of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

Anne-Marie Latter with ‘Success’

Roll up! Roll up! Take a trip on the escalator of life!
That’s it, madam, step on at the bottom and hold hands with Davie, your perfect partner. Well, maybe not perfect, but you’re almost thirty and he will have to do.
Keep moving upwards because you have a wedding to organise and children to produce!
Now it’s time to sign these mortgage papers, don’t be shy! That house is all yours, as long as you keep paying the bank every month.
Throw your acting dreams over the side! You won’t be needing those anymore; dreams don’t pay the bills.

*

Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

David Giles with ‘Harsh Lesson in Mortality’

Escalators used to terrify me. I was convinced that, should I make the slightest false move, I was liable to be sucked into the mechanism, dragged into some sinister underworld, and I would never get out again. One day I fashioned a little man out of a drinking straw and stuck him between the grooves, watching him disappear into nothingness. Where has he gone? I asked Mum.
To heaven, I expect, she replied.
When we went back down later, I saw him on the floor, all dirty and twisted, being swept into a dustpan. So much for salvation, thought I.

*

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitionscourse worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

• Alan Barker with ‘Down the Up Escalator’
• Ez Baril with ‘A Swift Kill’
• Lesley McLean with ‘The Mean Machine’
• Paul Mastaglio with ‘Read Between The Lines’

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

• Darren York with ‘The Chicken and the Fox Paradox’
• Valerie Fish with ‘Passing Strangers?’

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com., although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: July 2019

Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-seventh month of this competition. There were 33 entries from 14 authors for the theme of ‘given the chance’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked.

One was disqualified for only being 98 words with a two-word title. Fortunately the author had submitted two other spot-on submissions, however one of those had two sets of words (include a number) that should have been hyphenated, bringing it down to 98 words. To be fair on every entrant, I have to be strict and it just goes to show how valuable (useful anyway) it can be to submit three stories.

Another story was 99 words because a word (the) was used twice. Again the author had submitted two other stories. One of those however was only 97 words (98 originally but one word had been written as two). The remaining went through to the judging.

A 99-worder possibly was because it included a hyphen/dash which doesn’t count as a word.

Another was 101 words and I couldn’t find any reason other than there being too many words. I pasted it into https://wordcounter.netand it agreed. Ditto a 95-word story and sadly both those stories were the only submissions from their authors so they missed out on the competition for this month. Hopefully they’ll submit again. One author sent the same story three times (and another) but, as per the rules, only the first version is accepted. Another 101 story started as 100 but had a word missing (‘at a time’ rather than ‘at time’) which was a shame so was sadly disqualified, especially sad as the entrant’s only submission.

One was disqualified for having a numbered ‘year old’ half hyphenated, i.e. ‘15-year old self’ rather than ‘15-year-old self’ because it’s only the self that’s the noun rather than old self. Fortunately the author had submitted two other stories which went through to the judging.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a strong link to the theme – and there were several this month that barely stuck to the theme, if at all (sorry!) – so it’s worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it.

You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

Apart from the top three and highly commended, there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.

*The theme for August is ‘escalator’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Saturday 31st August. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

*

First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

Joyce Nelson with ‘Always in the Wings’
It would be so liberating to be given the chance of taking the lead. Always in the wings, learning the lines and stage directions others will use. I’m just a spear carrier, and my family think I have made it, living the high life in London. I mouth the words of my character as he is played out on stage as I await my entrance. I’m on, and I’m off, don’t blink, you’ll miss my performance as the bustling butler. I have made the part my own, there are no better butlers in the West End. I dream of accidents.

*

Second place (winning free access to two of myonline creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

Paul Mastaglio with ‘One More Day’
Given the chance, we’d walk in the fields again. I’d hold her hand, stroke her cheek and make her smile. We’d go to our favourite place. There, we would embrace, look into each other’s eyes and recall the happy memories.
We’d dine in our special restaurant and talk until they threw us out. Then we’d stroll by the river and stare at the moon. Later, we’d amble back home, close the door and go up the stairs one last time.
Tears filled my eyes as I walked away from her stone. If we’d had one more day. Given the chance.

*

Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

Jennie Cordner with ‘Second Chances’
When I left Isobel, six months pregnant, I never imagined the consequences of my actions. I thought she deserved better than a layabout as a father for her child. Later, the pain of witnessing her marrying another man upset me greatly. I had to move away.
Over the years I grabbed every chance to better myself. I’m now a professor. Who would have guessed it? Yet, nothing stopped me thinking of my child or my missed opportunity to be a dad. Then, today, I saw a young man in the lecture theatre who was the image of my young self.

*

Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitionscourse worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

• Alan Barker with ‘An Affair of the Heart’
• Christine Law with ‘Oh for Fate’
• Jane Broughton with ‘Nemesis’
• Yvonne Mastaglio with ‘Race Day’

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

• Ez Baril with ‘No Rites for the Wicked’
• Jeremy Chotzen with ‘Anna’
• Laura Besley with ‘Then vs. Now’
• Shalom Aranas with ‘Tipo’s Trenchcoat’

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com., although I won’t (can’t) discuss forthcoming entries unless it’s a general query.

Results of Morgen’s 100-word competition: June 2019

Hello everyone and welcome to the forty-sixth month of this competition. There were 32 entries from 20 authors for the theme of ‘the wrong card’. NB You can all send in three stories for a better chance of being picked – please do as several were disqualified this month…

One was disqualified for only being 98 words, possibly counting a multi-hyphenated word as three instead of one. Fortunately the author had submitted two other stories which were the correct word count. Ditto another two authors who’d not hyphenated pre-noun adjectives, e.g. counting ‘well-known celebrity’ as three words rather than two, so the stories were actually 99 words. Fortunately one author had submitted two other pieces but sadly the other had only submitted the one.

Another story was 97 words where three standalone hyphens had been included in the word count. Tip: if you change – to – Word won’t count it as a word.

This may seem mean on my part but this competition has a strict word count and it wouldn’t be fair on those who were correctly submitting 100-word stories for the errors not to be taken into consideration.

A couple of entrants submitted the same story (or similar, with changes) twice. Another story was 95 words but had a five-word title. 😦 That author also resubmitted the story with five extra words but because it was the same story, it too had to be disqualified. As the rules state, only the first version is accepted. Please don’t submit a story until you’re happy it’s correct. Thank you.

Another story was disqualified for not being to the theme, however hard I tried to work out how it did! It was a shame because it was a really good story, exactly 100 words, and from a new author to this competition, and the only story sent. I hope this author will submit again.

Finally, another story turned out to be 101 words because there were two words separated by … ellipses but with no space between, e.g. ‘fare…as’, which is clearly two words but Word has counted them as one. Another shame because it was again the only story entered by a new entrant.

The winning stories are ones that I reacted most favourably to. They were clever, surprising, eek-making (in a good way),or gave me a warm fuzzy feeling (without being sickly). Sometimes a story beats another because it has a strong link to the theme so it’s worth writing a story to the theme rather than tweaking a story you already have to loosely fit it.

You may have chosen a different order or indeed not placed one or more of them so if you entered and didn’t find your story / stories here, don’t lose heart. You probably only just missed out so do enter new stories this month*, next month, whenever you like (but not in advance!). It’s an ongoing competition and free, so you could win at any time. There were new and familiar names this month so anyone could win… it’s all dependent upon whether your story grabs me, for whatever reason (whether it be clever, funny, unusual, quirky, or sweet).

Apart from the top three and highly commended, there are some ‘Honourable Mentions’. They don’t win anything but they were so close to being Highly Commended that I wanted them to know how close they came. It’s still something for them to put on their CVs.

*The theme for July is ‘given the chance’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Wednesday 31st July. Details and entry forms on https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/100-word-free-monthly-competition. So without further ado, below are the successful entries this month.

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First place (winning free access to three of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £60 / $60) or a free edit and critique of up to 2,000 words (worth £14 / $18):

Shona Small with ‘Blonde Ambition’

When it is time to pick a card, any card, the bubbly busty blonde in the front row with the saucy smile is his choice.
He flashes the jack of diamonds and breaks out in a cold sweat when she shakes her pretty head. The audience falls silent, as sharks scenting blood. She reaches forward and taps his breast pocket. He draws out the ace of spades. She claps her hands and giggles. The crowd goes wild.
He looks for her after the show but she has pulled a disappearing act along with his wallet, gold watch and diamond cufflinks.

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Second place (winning free access to two of myonline creative writing courses (currently worth £40 / $40) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,500 words (worth £11 / $14):

Anthony James Dandy with ‘With Deepest Sympathy’

Tears dripped onto the card in her hand. ‘With deepest sympathy,’ it said.
Tears of relief.
They said his boat had capsized during a storm, whilst he was out at sea.
Forty years of drunken abuse ended.
Finally, peace. No more fear. No more hiding her pension money.
A fortnight later, she hummed to the music she had not played in years.
The door opened and he came in.
Unshaven, dirty, stinking of drink.
‘Can’t remember where I’ve been. Fell out my boat, swam to the shore and went on a bender.’
Tears rolled down her cheek.
Tears of grief.

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Third place (winning free access to one of my online creative writing courses (currently worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9):

Jody Kish with ‘A Heavenly Mistake’

“Hello? Yes, my husband has items he’d like to donate. That would be great! Our address is 4635 Sand Hill. Thank you. Bye.”
Feeling satisfied, Beth sat the phone in its cradle. Business cards scattered as her arm hit the pile of her husband’s things. A plethora of color scattered before her. Not remembering which one was the number for church donations, she scolded herself for her rush.
“Uh… may I help you? Robert! Someone is here to pick up your donation!” Beth hissed.
His flushed face watched as his wife sped away, leaving a dumbfounded call girl and husband.

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Highly commended (winning my Entering Writing Competitionscourse worth £20 / $20) or a free edit and critique of up to 1,000 words (worth £7 / $9) – in alphabetical order:

• Alan Barker with ‘A Vicar’s Fall From Grace’
• Dawn Plestina with ‘Oops a Daisy’
• Katy Lohman with ‘Foster’s Fixers’
• Lesley McLean with ‘Sweet Revenge’
• Paul Mastaglio with ‘Misplaced Sympathy’

Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:

• Ez Baril with ‘Speedball’
• Jeanne Meeks with ‘The Meaning of Flowers’
• Jiana Marita with ‘Uno Out’
• Valerie Fish with ‘Fate Accompli?’

Congratulations, everyone. The entries for this month are already drifting in. Remember, you can send up to three per month so rather than miss out on a chance by sending one story, do submit more.

If you’ve enjoyed these stories and / or just want to leave a comment, please do so below and / or you can email me at morgen@morgenbailey.com, although I can’t discuss entries unless it’s a general query.