Hello everyone. Last month I received 21 entries from 13 authors. Two were disqualified for only being 99 words. Four stories (from two authors) were submitted twice so the first versions were counted, the second deleted. I don’t know if they were the same but the rules state the first is the one that goes through to judging. There were a handful of stories where I was expecting (hoping) for a twist but none came. They can work really well so do considering giving your story a twist and the later the better: at least the final sentence if not, where possible, the final word for an “Ooh!” reaction.
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).
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 ‘leftovers’ and you can submit your entries (and do send three) at any time up to midnight (UK time) on Friday 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.
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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):
Barbara Young with ‘A Unique Opportunity’
The agent has brought two more eager faces. He describes me as a unique opportunity; an original Victorian sawmill, ripe for renovation.
She finds me charming and talks of ripping out the waterwheel and remodelling the pool as a Japanese water garden. Her husband will strip my interior – modernise, capitalise.
My cogs gleam in the dusty air as she bends close to my heart. He pulls her away, says I am dangerous and must be dismantled.
As the couple agree to put in an offer my blades twitch. Human flesh is soft and my teeth are sharp, hungry for work.
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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):
Diana Hayden with ‘Little Boxes’
Ten small boxes, covered in stained satin and decorated with gemstones, sat on the workshop shelf. Each box had a label. One said, “Jane H”. Another said, “hobo”.
Inside each box was an eyeball. One box, marked “Fay’s baby”, contained a much smaller eyeball.
It wasn’t until five years after my aunt died that the workshop gave up its secrets, and the police concluded she had been the Butcher of Basingstoke.
Fay is my sister. Her baby was abducted at six weeks old.
When I visit Fay in hospital she’s always crafting little boxes out of cardboard, satin and gemstones.
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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):
Christine Law with ‘The Loner’
Albert looked at his long gnarled fingers stretching out in front of him he picked up the spoon. It wasn’t good enough this broth of potatoes and peas. Pushing the spoon away, he swore grabbing hold of his shaggy grey beard.
Life had to become more exciting. He never got caught, mutilated bodies lined the odd passage. Grabbing someone from behind, dragging his nails inside their windpipe, one push before the fat trollop could scream. A grin appeared on his lips.
They saw him sitting in the library, watching, waiting sometimes. He raised a bushy eyebrow and smiled at life.
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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:
- Angela Greenwood with ‘Go To Sleep’
- Charlene Mertz with ‘The Doctor Is In’
- Hilary Ayshford with ‘Obsession’
- Lesley McLean with ‘The Nightmare’
Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:
- Andy Morfett with ‘The Horror’
- Ian Marshall with ‘Breathless’
- Justin Rulton with ‘Uninvited Company’
- Patricia Cooksley with ‘Beach Babe’
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.
Steve Root with ‘Silent Running’
Jane Broughton with ‘Greener Pastures’
Juan Andrés González Romero with ‘The Longest Trip’
Emily did not need knickers. She was so thin, hers did not fit anyway.
“Have fun at Uni.”
Raptor was his name because he was majestic enough to capture all of his genus in one. Red Kites are beautiful, graceful, harmless (unless you were a worm) and my chap, with his royal attitude, his masterly management of the wind and his gorgeous colours was a fine bird indeed.
Laura Besley with ‘Blue on a Red Day’
An ostrich lays gigantic eggs, while snakes don’t have any legs. An elephant’s nose is called a trunk and terrible smells come from a skunk. Bees are great at making honey, a hyena laughing isn’t funny. Zebra stripes are always black and wolves go hunting in a pack. A cheetah can run very fast, while a tortoise will always be last. Giraffes have the longest necks and geese will give you spiteful pecks. A lion gives a vicious bite, bats won’t fly unless it’s night. White rhinos have massive heads. But if a bear hugs you, you will be dead!
Hello everyone. Last month I received 23 entries from 15 authors. One story was disqualified for being sent a month too early. It also means it can’t be resent in April (it’s in the rules) but is then free to be sent elsewhere. Some were heavily influenced by the theme (superstitious), others less so but there was, as always, an entertaining and impressive mix of tales.
Highly commended (winning my 
Honourable mentions (not winning anything but only narrowly missing out and still looking good on their CV) – in alphabetical order:
Hello everyone. This month I received 30 entries from 18 authors. One was disqualified for being only 99 words but the author had sent more than one story (always advisable) so there was another to choose from. Another lost its way for only being 98 words (with a two-worded title so that making up the 100 words) and unfortunately the only that author made which is why I suggest entering the maximum of three stories. If one gets published here, you’d still have the other two to send elsewhere. A third story was disqualified for not sticking to the ‘the outskirts’ theme.
I can still taste the saltiness on the ocean breeze, snapping a polaroid unbeknownst to the boy licking ice cream from his cone on the promenade.
They’re reputed to be haunted, the outskirts. Not by one soul or two, but many if you asked nearly anyone at the pub on a biting winter’s night while ale warmed bellies and cheeks alike.
Ethel rubs her reddened hands, the skin paper thin around her gnarled and swollen joints.
We used to stay up all night listening to records, marvelling at the form, examining everything about them.
One was disqualified for only being 99 words and no obvious reason why it might have been 100. Another was 97 words (where the title of the piece was included but didn’t make sense as part of the story) and had no connection with the month’s theme of ‘sweater’. It’s a shame because it was well written. A third, amusing, story was only 95 words. It contained three standalone – hyphens, which are included in Word’s word count but when corrected to – dashes then don’t and are mentioned in the rules as not being words and therefore are not to be included. There was also a row of **** asterisks which are also included but shouldn’t be. Not sure where the other ‘missing’ word would have been. So, PLEASE check your word count carefully. Use your programme’s word count but also do it manually to make sure.
Susi J Smith
