Once Upon A Time Flash Fiction Contest – WINNERS

Firstly, we’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who entered and promoted the #OUATWRITING contest. We had 88 fantastic entries and it was a huge struggle to pick just 3 of these as our winners. We had everything from evil Cinderellas to sci-fi to modern day tales and it was a delight to read them all… hence why we decided to publish them all in an anthology which will be available as a paperback and eBook very soon!

So without further ado, the winners of the contest are:

GRAND PRIZE

Oliver Barton – ‘Pink Bells’

AWAKE PRIZE PACKAGE for ‘Best Adaptation’

Angela Readman – ‘A Mermaid in Texas’

TWIXT PRIZE PACKAGE for ‘Best Original’

McKenzie Barham – ‘I can show you the world’

We’d also like to remind you of the winner of the mini-comp…

#FANFAV (voted for by the fans via Twitter votes)

Cory Eadson – ‘Three Simple Words’

Well done to you all!

As well as the individual prizes, the 3 main contest winners will be published in the National Flash Fiction Day Winners Anthology, which will be available soon – details to follow.

The winner of the GRAND PRIZE is published below for your immediate enjoyment…

Pink Bells

Oliver Barton

The pair progress laboriously along the path in the park. He leaning on a stick, each step a pain, she almost bent double, hand in his. She clutches a paper bag. They sit carefully on a bench, very close, avoiding the damper spots. In front of them stretches a sea of pink bells.

It is nine in the morning, and the bag contains croissants. Gertie hands one to Arthur. They nibble in silence, flakes fluttering like confetti.

While a blackbird sings and sparrows edge towards the crumbs, Gertie extends a bent finger towards a plaque half-submerged in the flowers.

‘What does it say?’ she asks.

‘I don’t know,’ he says, because it is several feet away and his eyes aren’t too good.

With a groan, she gets to her feet and shuffles towards it. Bent as she is, she still can’t make it out. She retrieves a pair of spectacles hanging round her neck, and peers closer.

Arthur hears her saying something, but his hearing is not too good either. He sees her move forward among the flowers. As she does, she shrinks, smaller and smaller, until she vanishes into the pinkness.

Two sparrows squabble over a croissant crumb and fly off, startling Arthur. He struggles to rise. With his stick, he moves the blooms aside so that he can see the plaque clearly. He expects something like the name of the business that has sponsored this bed, but it simply says ‘Come in. Make yourself at home.’

So he steps into the sea of flowers, and at once the pink bells inflate and grow until they are several times his height. The scent is overwhelming, the chime of the bells deep and sonorous. He walks towards Gertie and the others, praying that it doesn’t rain. A raindrop the size of a settee would be unsettling. But, he thinks, they must have ways of dealing with that.

Back on the bench, a little breeze sweeps the paper bag off into a graceful dance, an homage, an obeisance, and all is still.

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Winners will be contacted via email about their prizes.

Thanks again to everyone who entered - we hope you had as much fun with the contest as we did! Make sure you visit us at Yearning for Wonderland and SJI Holliday for more information about the anthologies.

Sprinkles of fairydust,

Susi & Anna

(Dark Fairy & Fairy Queen)