Annapurna feeds her sourdough starter twice daily, with the same routine regularity she cleans her teeth, but it isn’t a chore. The starter’s frothy, enthusiastic greeting always surprises her. The bubbles breathe, swelling and deflating to the rhythm of her lungs. Sharp vinegary notes fizz in her nostrils, clear her head. The alchemy shocks Annapurna into activity. She whisks the
The first time I saw the devil was when I received that rejection slip. I’d opened my mailbox, expecting the usual demands and promotions, and there it was: a letter to yours truly with the Godspeed Poetry Press logo, urging me to open it real quick. I read the letter three times before I got to my front porch. No
The tiny illuminated box, which Jasmine had been observing for the last fifteen minutes, was filled with jubilant bliss up to its brink. Some was even oozing out and could be felt by the currently shadowed heart of Jasmine metres away. The box had a little kid jumping, his feet filled with nervous energy galloping around his mother as she
Not long before the End Times, my love sought a man to cut his hair. There was a prophecy, you see, that the Chosen Ones would be shorn and clean-shaven, the better to apply a mask. “Cut my hair,” he said to the man holding scissors in the square. “Will you cut my hair?” “I will not,” said
On the western side of the village, in a clearing some yards beyond, stood five silver birch trees. They were unusually tall for birches and formed a quincunx, a pattern that in later centuries would be routinely found on dice and playing cards depicting the numeral five. The central tree was taller than the other four. Some people maintained the
We are delighted to announce the winners of Lucent Dreaming’s 2021 Flash Fiction contest. The winning stories appear below, and will be published in our upcoming 10th issue next month. Highly commended stories will appear in issue 10 of Lucent Dreaming which is available to preorder. 1st Place Jeffrey Skinner, ‘Mission Creep’ 2nd Place Julia Clayton, ‘Dacre Must Fall’ 3rd
We are delighted to announce the winners of Lucent Dreaming’s 2021 Poetry and Short Story contests. The winning poems and short stories will appear below, and in our upcoming 10th issue. We would like to thank everyone who entered this year’s poetry and short story categories. We had a very difficult job narrowing down our top pieces in both categories.
Frances Griffiths pulled her case up the gravel path to her cousin’s house. Her mother chided her for dragging the case, but was so uncomfortable under the sun that she didn’t enforce her threats of punishment. So Frances continued to drag the expensive suitcase, huffing and complaining that her arms hurt while her mother fanned herself with a hat. Sweat
Pinocchio and Thumbelina are sitting down to supper. It’s the first thoroughly cooked fish in days, but neither of them are very hungry. They need to feed themselves with something, though, or they’ll go crazy. So, they have a misery contest to chew on. “I’m breakable—my bones won’t heal back,” says Pinocchio proudly. “I’m misplaceable. I almost got baked into
They were born from a flower deep in the pine forest of the Highlands, hiding in the earth, gasping for air. Angry from years of imprisonment, they pushed the stem above ground, erupting rough through mud like air from a geyser. We called this flower the creeping lady’s-tresses, and its flowers spiral around the shoot like stairs, itching to feel
