Youths, adults submit a total of 152 entries in inaugural literary contest

By Staff Report

Tell a fiction story in 100 words or less. That was the goal of the inaugural Flash Fiction Contest sponsored by the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill. And 152 South Valley residents responded to the challenge by submitting their literary gems.

The winners were announced on Zoom at the Jan. 19 Rotary club meeting. They are divided into two categories: youth is 17 years old and younger, adult is 18 years or older. Judges were provided by each co-sponsors: Brad Jones & Cinda Meister of BookSmart (one vote); Adult Librarian, Hannah Clement from the Morgan Hill Steve Tate Library; Morgan Hill Life publisher Marty Cheek; and English teacher Quoc Ahn Nguyen from the Morgan Hill Unified School District.

The idea for the contest came from Rotary member Penny Noel. Sherry Hemingway served as the chair.

“Flash fiction tries to tell big, rich, complex stories very quickly,” she said. “The pandemic required this club to think creatively about community service. This program offers people a stimulating diversion at home.”

Here are the youth winners’ stories:

First Place: Brooke Ledwith, 13, Grade 7

Multi-tasking Mom

Flour, salt, sugar, dairy, fats, extracts, spices, vanilla extract, and chocolate chips. Singing to the baby mixing the components. I placed the cookies in the preheated oven and the baby in the crib. Cries came but the crib had a bunch of cookie dough balls in it.

Second Place: Cara Wargocki,, 13, Grade 8

I Wait at the Corner

Every day I wait at the corner. I see people talk. I see people laugh. I see people cry. I wait at the corner for days, for weeks, for months, for years. But no one stops and says hello. No one smiles my way.

I wait at the corner for my whole life. Then a sign comes. “Construction Area.” “New Restaurant Soon.” A saw cuts through my wooden trunk. I wait at the corner no more.

Tie – Third Place: My Ahn Thoi, 12, Grade 7

The Dognapping

Jean smashed through a screen door, crashing onto manicured grass. A high squeal erupted from the thrashing poodle within her arms. She clenched the pampered fur harder and stumbled to her feet, sprinting down the road.

Jean hopped up into her garbage truck and slammed onto the gas.

“Hey! Not again!” screeched an old lady tripping over the remains of her door, barely catching herself on her cane.

The poodle contently wedged its face in Jean’s arm.

Jean turned back, “You know where to look in a week! And bring your wallet, I want double this time.”

Tie – Third Place: Stephanie Chen, 13, Grade 8

Amber Alert

My phone lets out an unusually loud buzz. I glance down to see my phone screen have an amber alert notification.

Child abduction. Santa Clara County Police

Victim: Eight-year-old Blair Goodman, black hair, green eyes, white male.

Suspect: 47-year-old Judy Black, 5 feet, white female, blonde ponytail.

Last seen: Gilroy, CA. If any suspicious activity observed, call 911.

Gee, I hope he gets found, I think. I let my blonde ponytail down and look in the rear mirror to check on the writhing, screaming child in the back.

After all, it wasn’t my fault Blair accepted my candy.

Here are the adult winners’ stories:

First place: Chris Lopez

Twelve and a Half

My birthday party couldn’t last forever, just like being 12. With friends gone home and the park a block behind me, I held my gift bags tight.

My jacket, makeup, and earrings waited in these colorful bags stuffed with tissue paper, confetti, and gift receipts.

How many dinners was the jacket worth? I couldn’t hear the park anymore, just the creak of my dad’s tired leather shoes, his special occasion pair.

I rearranged the bags (makeup and earrings on the left, jacket on the right) as my dad asked what he had to: “Which present do you want to keep?”

Second Place: Tiffany Bloyer

Trick of the Light

The sun, a melting penny, pushes gently against the edge of the world where the ocean meets the deep bruise of a purple, dawn sky.

She sits alone on the bench knowing she must return soon, but needing this moment to call her own.

This morning, her husband smoothed her hair and kissed her goodbye.

She did dishes, trundled kids to school…was that yesterday?

The sun, warming everything, like farmhouse bread, casts shadows everywhere. She sees her hands, veined, spotty…her mother’s.

Must be a trick of the light.

As always, she sees the wristband: Julie Waters: Memory Care.

Tie Third Place: Charleene Puder

Mockingbird Mishap

We’re being terrorized, my pregnant cat and me.

A mockingbird assaults us, blasting a barrage of incessant calls. Then swoops menacingly at the cat. She meows loudly and glares at the bird contemptuously.

“I hear you!” I sympathize.

Soon her kittens are born, nursed and weaned. They aren’t tidy eaters. Food scatters everywhere!

Returning home from a cat food run, I hear the kittens enjoying a meal. “Are you making a mess?” I yell.

But the mess isn’t what I’m expecting. Feathers litter the floor.

My cat looks on proudly as if to say, “Revenge Is sweet.”

Tie Third Place: Edith Ohene-Nyaka

Saving Christmas

Missing Sleigh; Elves on the loose.

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