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With Sword and Salt

By Lenore Butcher
2015 Winner: Young Adult

TORY

The night before she saw the Burning Man for the first time, Tory went on her fourth date with the baddest boy from Karn Avenue and she saw her first ghost. Thinking back on it much later, after she’d gone through everything else, she couldn’t sort out if the two were related or not.

The date was at a local restaurant, a little place calling itself a ‘bistro’ that used to be a dance bar. Before it was a dance bar, it had been an upscale restaurant and before that it had been a heritage landmark, the former dwelling of one of the town’s upper muckity mucks.

It was definitely not the kind of place you’d expect to see the local drug dealer and her biker boyfriend. Tory loved shaking up the straights, going places she knew they didn’t want her. [Read more…]

I Was A Teen Aged Zombie

By Lenore Butcher
2014 Honourable Mention: Young Adult

She was facing a long night alone in the house and she didn’t think she could take it anymore. She had to get out. If she stuck around the house, she thought she might end up getting drunk again and she didn’t want to be that pathetic loser who got drunk by herself every night. That was someone else entirely, definitely not Katie Byron.

She put her jacket on and left the house. She had no idea where she was going, just she couldn’t stay home tonight. [Read more…]

Shoes, Socks & Other Body Parts: A Collection of Shorts

By Jennifer Turney
2019 Winner: Adult

Step, Swing, Slide, Stomp : The Tree-Planter Returns

It was another Friday in June; the day they had been waiting for all week. There had been frost on the windows that morning that had since melted away as the sun climbed. The nights were still cool enough to keep a fire burning low in the stove. For once Matty’s mother hadn’t had to rush him to finish his lunch so they could walk into town. His shoes were already tied as she came down the stairs, at least, as tied as a five-year old’s can be when in a hurry. [Read more…]

That’s Me In The Corner

by Kevin Craig
2011 Winner: Young Adult

CHAPTER ONE

My circle is usually just made up of Adam, Sadie, and me. Just the three of us. It’s always been this way and I imagine it’s the way it will always be. Though, it’s kind of hard to visualize our future together. Not exactly the normal family unit, is it?

But what’s normal, right? [Read more…]

Half Dead & Fully Broken

by Kevin Craig
2010 Winner: Young Adult

CHAPTER ONE

Lately, people cry whenever they come near me. Whenever I come near them.

My life wasn’t always this way. They used to be indifferent. Before the accident, I sometimes wondered if I even existed at all. Not anymore. Now, all I have to do is walk into a room and someone is bound to burst into tears. Guaranteed.

I don’t really blame them. I haven’t been able to look in a mirror since the 6th of May, myself. I can’t bear to do it. [Read more…]

Merim & The Fourth

By Jennifer Turney
2018 Winner: Young Adult

Chapter 1

Merim and Janus clawed through another mound of soft, wet moss, the earthy scent causing each of them to sneeze in turn. She, wearing the last small pair of gloves and he, shouldering the bag and insisting she move faster at their task. It wasn’t often that they found a pocket of such fresh, lush greenery, deep in the thick and mountainous Asian landscape. They were eager to collect it before someone else came to claim it, not that the nomads ran into strangers often. It also wasn’t often that Merim and Janus were able to work together companionably.

[Read more…]

Ghost of A Chance

By Lenore Butcher
2019 Honourable Mention: Adult

Thursday dawned with ominous dark clouds in the sky. Krystia, always sensitive to barometric pressure changes, had a headache and seemed out of sorts. She had planned to head over to the spa site to check on the progress but ended up deciding to stay home in bed all day and see if she couldn’t soothe it away. Thursday night was family night and she didn’t want to ruin it by feeling ill. [Read more…]

The Reasons

by Kevin Craig
2008 Winner: Adult

CHAPTER ONE: Tobias Reason

My mother was always losing things. She once lost my dead sister. She spent years looking for her, but by the time she had lost Deja she was far too gone to realize there’s no finding the dead. When you lose sight of them, they are gone forever.

I was ten years old when Deja died. She was the oldest Reason child—gifted, bright, and headstrong. She had just finished high school and was contemplating her next steps in life, pondering her choices. [Read more…]

Sebastian’s Poet

by Kevin Craig
2007 Winner: Adult

CHAPTER ONE:

I first met the poet in 1973. I was a child, cleaning up after one of my father’s infamous parties. I can still recall that encounter. I found the poet passed out on our living room couch. He was sprawled in such a way I had to move his arms to clear the mess on the coffee table. His hand was resting inside the detritus of an overflowing ashtray. Putting my collection of beer bottles down on the table, I tried to move his hand without waking him. [Read more…]

The Beautiful Summer

by Brenna Pinckard
2013 Young Adult Runner Up

Chapter One: Ready

It is the middle of June. School has ended, and there is a sense of enchantment in the air. The dream of summer has become a reality; the mere thought of it causes my body to buzz with energy. This buzz is reflected on Katie’s face as she looks over at me from her place in front of the mirror. I can see it in her – she’s lighter, happier. School isn’t just over for the year, it’s over forever. And that makes the idea of this summer, the fact that we have ten beautiful, hot weeks stretching out in front of us, seemingly for eternity, all the more appealing. [Read more…]