January Flash Fiction Challenge

Topic: Drabbles, stories in exactly 100 words

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Top 5 (in no particular order):

1. Adya Bhatta, 11 - "Oxymoron"

(NATIONAL WINNER)

Maybe it was the way I flinched when you put your hand on my shoulder at that party. Or when the cheap necklace you bought me at a strip mall in Miami last summer started feeling tighter. I called it my very own noose, and you were livid. For weeks afterwards, I put two coats of makeup on to hide the bruises. 

But it was when your mom called us a “happy couple” at Thanksgiving dinner, that I realized. 
On the car ride home I asked you, “What’s that word? Oxy-something…”
You pretended not to hear.
“It’s like jumbo shrimp.”

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2. Emily Liu, 11 - Untitled

I wondered if he had resolved himself to this position in wait of my song, praise, worship for my supposed rebirth by his grace. His rising palms pushed particles of dust out of his way. The movement set the dust into chaos, whirling to escape his hands as he pointed at me. He spoke as if he had gifted me a chest of divine treasure and he was the creator of my own chest of breath, blood and bone, as if parting dust was the equivalent of parting the Red Sea and he was godly to me in that moment.

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3. Jessica Luu, 11 - "The Importance of Breakfast"

I was always told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Digging deep down in my memory, I remember the fragrant smell of buttery toast topped with rich peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk. A classic Cantonese breakfast. My Mom’s favorite. Sitting down at the kitchen table, glancing around at the slowly peeling wallpaper, I can hear the faint and joyous laughter from my family in 2012. I scan around the kitchen table again to bring myself back to 2020. It’s empty. I didn’t understand it then, but I think I know why breakfast is important now.

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4. Suhani Mahajan, 11 - "Futile Wanting"

“Elephant.”



“Butterfly.”



“Tiger.”



“Dove.”



They went back and forth, arguing on which animal they’d rather be, forgetting that they were both stuck just as they were: human.



He wanted to be strong because he wasn’t already. He wanted to protect his mother because he couldn’t yesterday.



She wanted to fly away from home. It was empty anyway; the drugs had stolen her mother long ago.

But it didn't matter what each wanted. He wouldn't ever save his mother from his father. She would remain trapped at home with a violent woman who didn’t know a thing about being a mother.

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5. Yunhui (Valerie) Shim, 11 - "Tenacity"

The impugnation for something so sanctifying always brings forth an avalanche of heavy emotions. The obstacles, setbacks, or momentary failure can overwhelm one with doubt and uncertainty. The temporarily muddied prospects should not deter one from persisting with their values. The finest toned bells come from the basest metals, and of dusted neglect and poverty still retained seedlings of improvement and progress. Success comes in many diverged paths, and the more deplorable the height that one has fallen, the more one would be willing to effortfully compensate for their shock. Thus, when met with adversity, deem it as a chance.