Short Stories

Although I was grateful and ecstatic to reach the final round of the rhyming competition, I was also terrified. I wasn't scared that I would get trounced; making it to the final round was already an accomplishment! Nor was I scared of receiving devastatingly critical feedback; it is valuable to know how others interpret and digest my writing. I was afraid for a much more mundane, stupid reason. Final rounds are "open genre." I know, I know. Terrifying. The people-pleasing sid

If you missed my post on the NYC Midnight Rhyming Competition is and round one details, take a look here ! The second round of the competition was a little more up my alley, and my story landed third place in my group. This time around, my prompts were to write a Fantasy/Fairy Tale story with a theme of "contrarianism" and featuring the emotion of "infuriated," all in 500 words. The first thing that came to mind was the idea of the "Chosen One" that is so prominent in fantasy

This past fall I entered the NYC Midnight Rhyming Story Competition , along with about 1500 other writers. I had entered two other NYC Midnight competitions before, but I never made it past the first round. The Rhyming Story competition stretches several writing muscles. Not only do the participants have to create a cohesive story that rhymes within a time limit, but they have to make it fit with certain prompts and word limit constraints. I had many, many tabs open for vario

This story was part of the 500-word Fear 2025 Writing Battle. My prompts were to follow the horror genre, have a character be a paramedic, and include a coin. The following was what I submitted. Cheers! Jackson’s leg bounces as he stares down the enormous clock on the wall. The analog face hovers above various trinkets to symbolize vitality and camaraderie. An award for bravery. An amusing calendar of scantily-clad employees posing with their emergency vehicles. A fold-out ta