WINNERS OF THE 53-WORD STORY CONTEST
Prompt in parenthesis: Write a 53-word story about (_____)
2024
October (a catch): “Tricky Trippings” by Zoie Noranho (forthcoming in Issue 269, Jan-Apr 2025)
September (a set): “Thrift Store Porcelain: Made Separately, Sold Together” by Lele Xiong (forthcoming in Issue 269, Jan-Apr 2025)
August (a marshmallow): “How to Make Your Turkish Grandmother's Special Recipe When You've Never Lived up to Expectations” by Wendy Markel (Issue 263, Sept-Dec 2024)
July (a bank): “Poetic Justice” by Chrystel Roberts (Issue 263, Sept-Dec 2024)
June (a blink): “Reflection” by Bari Lynn Hein (Issue 263, Sept-Dec 2024)
May (showers): “A Desperate Desire for Rain” by Lindsey James (Issue 263, Sept-Dec 2024)
April (a band): “At Long Last” by Allison Winstead (Issue 257, May-Aug 2024)
March (a march): “Tactics” by Steve Nathans (Issue 257, May-Aug 2024)
February (a tool): “On Call” by Joanna Chen (Issue 257, May-Aug 2024)
January (a beginning): “Ciao Is Two Words” by Leeron Carmi (Issue 257, May-Aug 2024)
2023
December (a code): “Chocolate” by Audrey Brown (Issue 251, Jan-Apr 2024)
November (a leg): “Autumn Heir” by Keith Padraic (Issue 251, Jan-Apr 2024)
October (a blend): “Innovation” by Magdalena Naziemiec (Issue 251, Jan-Apr 2024)
September (chewing): “Roadside Attraction” by Jason Ryan (Issue 251, Jan-Apr 2024)
August (a search): “This Living Hand” by Gary Thomson (Issue 241, Sept-Dec 2023)
July (a combination): “Rice & Ice” by Kane Williams (Issue 241, Sept-Dec 2023)
June (a script): “Breaking Good News” by Chris Tattersall (Issue 241, Sept-Dec 2023)
May (sweat): “The End of the World as We Know It” by A.K. Murphy (Issue 241, Sept-Dec 2023)
April (pants): “The Magnitude of Trivial Conflict” by Adam Hughes (Issue 239, May 1, 2023)
March (madness): “Ergot” by Deborah Block-Schwenk (Issue 239, May 1, 2023)
February (grit): “Walk A Mile” by Sue McMillan (Issue 239, May 1, 2023)
January (balance): “Round and Round” by Amanda Van Regenmorter (Issue 239, May 1, 2023)
2022
December (nonsense): “Ineptias Verba” by Sheri Holden-Peck (Issue 233, January 1, 2023)
November (a tree): “He Never Asked Me What I Wanted” by Madeleine McDonald (Issue 233, January 1, 2023)
October (potential): “Sourdough” by Jordan Hua (Issue 233, January 1, 2023)
September (a dip): “Lucky” by Zoë Jones (Issue 229, October 1, 2022)
August (a connection): “The Last Word” by Beverley Ward (Issue 229, October 1, 2022)
July (a counter): “Leaving Kyiv” by Carrie Keyes (Issue 229, October 1, 2022)
June (a flag): “Letting It Fly” by Steve Saulsbury (Issue 227, July 1, 2022)
May (meditation): "St. Maria’s Cathedral Yoga: 6 - 7 a.m." by Cora Rowe (Issue 227, July 1, 2022)
April (a date): “Dusk” by H.T. Grossen (Issue 227, July 1, 2022)
March (rearranging): “Don't Mess with Dewey” by Jill Mills (Issue 223, Apr 1, 2022)
February 2022 (being resourceful): "Please Follow Proper Courtroom Etiquette" by Sara Elizabeth Dowd (Issue 223, Apr 1, 2022)
January 2022 (a dynamic duo): “Craving for Two” by Nina Miller (Issue 223, Apr 1, 2022)
2021
December 2021 (a stream): “Melinda” by Mila Gama (Issue 211, Jan 1, 2022)
November 2021 (support): “Unforgettable” by Janette Ostle (Issue 211, Jan 1, 2022)
October 2021 (arriving): “Final Request” by Keith Padraic (Issue 211, Jan 1, 2022)
September 2021 (an order): “Equine Knocks” by Sandra Burley (Issue 199, Oct 1, 2021)
August 2021 (ripening): “Ship Seeking Ship” by Hayley Igarashi (Issue 199, Oct 1, 2021)
July 2021 (a train): “The Buzz about the Wedding” by Greg Hill (Issue 199, Oct 1, 2021)
June 2021 (a whistle): “I Can Do It with My Eyes Shut” by Audrey Lindsay (Issue 197, Jul 1, 2021)
May 2021 (a sentence): "What Defines You" by Angel Pritts (Issue 197, Jul 1, 2021)
April 2021 (something tasty): “That Awkward First Kiss” by Paul Adam Short (Issue 197, Jul 1, 2021)
March 2021 (fossels): “Underground Fugitive” by Ada Young (Issue 193, Apr 1, 2021)
February 2021 (a draft): “What She’s Having” by Rachel Jager (Issue 193, Apr 1, 2021)
January 2021 (digits): “New and Improved” by Darcee A. Freier (Issue 193, Apr 1, 2021)
2020
December 2020 (giving): “The Signs” by Jo Mularczyk (Issue 191, Jan 1, 2021)
November 2020 (thanks): “Buy a Donkey” by Jean-Luke Swanepoel (forthcoming in Issue 191, Jan 1, 2021)
October 2020 (brewing): “Bougainville Tsukimi, 1944” by David Meyer (forthcoming in Issue 191, Jan 1, 2021)
September 2020 (birth): “Premature Celebration” by N.E. Rule (Issue 181, October 1, 2020)
August 2020 (Sunday): “Lazy Sunday” by Riddhishrree Badhan (Issue 181, October 1, 2020)
July 2020 (shell): “And All the Heavens Are in Disarray” by Kristin Tenor (Issue 181, October 1, 2020)
June 2020 (a rocky road): “Fracking, Our New Neighbor” by Neil Shook (Issue 179, July 1, 2020)
May 2020 (something short): “Short of Cash” by Sally Simon (Issue 179, July 1, 2020)
April 2020 (a sandwich): “Pyramids” by L.M. Brown (Issue 179, July 1, 2020)
March 2020 (something green): “Virginia Cabin” by Eric Waddon (Issue 173, April 1, 2020)
February 2020 (a run): “Endurance” by Elizabeth Barton (Issue 173, April 1, 2020)
January 2020 (a cavity): “Breakaway” by Scott B. Shepherd (Issue 173, April 1, 2020)
2019
December 2019 (something new): “Good Night” by Brian Rosten (Issue 167, Januaryl 1, 2020)
November 2019 (a majority): “Home Alone” by Jane T. Pait (Issue 167, January 1, 2020)
October 2019 (Halloween): “Traveling Companion” by Rebekah Heaney (Issue 167, January 1, 2020)
September 2019 (a misunderstanding): “Waste” by Kristin Ooley-Harrison (Issue 163, October 1, 2019)
August 2019 (running): “Ding Dong Ditch” by J. William Ross (Issue 163, October 1, 2019)
July 2019 (payback): “Spring Patrol,” by Kate Wolf (Issue 163, October 1, 2019)
June 2019 (repetition): “Borborygmus” by Jacqui Brown (Issue 157, July 1, 2019)
May 2019 (superstition): “Nose Hairs Crossed” by Heather Davis (Issue 157, July 1, 2019)
April 2019 (foolishness): “Guts” by Brian Rosten (Issue 157, July 1, 2019)
March 2019 (morning): “Speed Dating” by Denise Jones (Issue 157, July 1, 2019)
February 2019 (a high road): “Taxi Ride” by Aisha Ashraf (Issue 151, April 1, 2019)
January 2019 (waste): “The Village Elders in the San de Christo (Blood of Christ) Mountains” by Jolene Thibodeaux (Issue 151, April 1, 2019)
2018
December 2018: “Cold War Paper” by Meg Freer (Issue 151, April 1, 2019)
November 2018: “Inside Out” by Jo Ann Hoffman (Issue 149, January 1, 2019)
October 2018: “Everybody=Nobody” by Robert Engel (Issue 149, January 1, 2019)
September 2018: “Taking the Fall” by Mike Tuohy (Issue 149, January 1, 2019)
August 2018: “Nuptials” by Emily West (Issue 139, October 1, 2018)
July 2018: "The End" by Michele Partain (Issue 139, October 1, 2018)
June 2018: "Low Tide" by Annie Dodson (Issue 139, October 1, 2018)
May 2018: "The Gift" by Nancy Jorgensen (Issue 137, July 1, 2018)
April 2018: "Hailstones" by Laura Ruth Loomis (Issue 137, July 1, 2018)
March 2018: "Might Get Lucky" by Anne Anthony (Issue 137, July 1, 2018)
February 2018: "Bedtime Shadows" by Joyce Ann Wheatley (Issue 131, Apr 1, 2018)
January 2018: "Taking Stock" by Meg Freer (Issue 131, Apr 1, 2018)
2017
December 2017 (contradition): "Inheritance" by Colleen Maloney (Issue 131, Apr 1, 2018)
November 2017 (shuffling): "The Little Transient" by Lorri McDole (Issue 127, Jan 1, 2018)
October 2017 (doubt): "Homecoming" by Noël Rozny (Issue 127, Jan 1, 2018)
September 2017 (school): "The Shed Is Best" by Donna Kennedy (Issue 127, Jan 1, 2018)
August 2017 (a dance): "Dance on My Grave" by Hannah Ambrose (Issue 113, Oct 1, 2017)
NOTE: In September 2017, Prime Number Magazine transitioned to a new website, and we changed our format. Beginning with Issue 113, October 1, 2017, we began including the winning author’s photo and 53-word bio. Below are our winners prior to August 2017 contest. Enjoy!
July 2017
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about something hot
In the Oven by K.C. Mead-Brewer
Texas, July, a busted AC, and now this—a rustling, skittering sound. Mice. The idea alone made her itchy as hell, but scratching only clogged her nails with sweat. Hot air piled in her throat like mulch. Mice in the walls. Trembling, she touched her growing middle. Mice crawling all through the walls.
June 2017
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about a break
How Amelia Earhart Comes to Understand Gravitational Pull by Joanna Thomas
To the roof of the shed, she cobbles a ramp, then rides an apple crate down the slope. The wooden box splinters upon impact. Split lip, ripped bloomers, and a snoot full of exhilaration, she exclaims, "Oh, Pidge, it's just like flying!" Later, over the Pacific, the flap, flutter, thrill of another plummet.
May 2017
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about a flower
Daisy Chain by Aamna Kaul
You meet a girl and want to fall in love. Her name is Daisy so you give her some. She puts them in a vase and introduces you to her brother. His grip is tight. A wasp hovers over the daisies, then stings you. Daisy lasts a week. You never forget her brother.
April 2017
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about a shower
Jackpot by Peter Wise
They placed their bets—he lost, she won. Spent her jackpot on a shower of glass, marble and gold. Each day now, they return from work caked with dust, and she leads him up the creaking stairs of their farmhouse into her Las Vegas oasis, where sulfur-tainted well water rains like silver coins.
March 2017
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about a march
Chamomile by Sharon Louise Howard
It was the march of sugar ants that dismantled the world as she knew it. It was early. She’d wanted to surprise him. The unexpected ants led to a used cup in the sink. Lifting it, she smelled dregs of chamomile tea. A tea she hated, but a favorite of their neighbor’s daughter.
February 2017
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about a full moon
Waiting by Katherine Schurk
Just like I have awaited the full moon, a pearl high in the sky illuminating the dazzling shore, I have awaited your return. For thirty days and nights, I have left the front porch light on, I have eaten each meal by your empty chair, and I have filled only half my bed.
January 2017
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about a penny
Fair Trade by Claire Foxx*
“Some rock” was his initial appraisal.
“I always thought so,” she said.
He inspected the ring, reached into his mustache for a real number.
“Tough break. Give you 350.”
“How much for that?” She pointed to one of a dozen revolvers shelved under the glass countertop.
“349.99?”
“That's a deal. Keep the change.”
* Claire V. Foxx joined Press 53 in May 2018 and is now short fiction editor and senior cover designer (Art major turned English major!)
December 2016
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about a chill
The Last by Greg Hill
From his sparse pile of twigs, he looked up at her and surrendered a sigh. “That was our last match.” A chill brushed the back of her neck. She shifted her weight and folded her arms. In all directions, the desert offered no promise of rescue lights, just the cold flicker of stars.
November 2016
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about stirring
Nine O’clock Evening News by Laura Hunter
“Don’t be stirring me up now.”
“I’m not meaning to, Mama. I’m needing to tell you something.”
“You slammed that door again. Turn and face the corner.”
“But this is important.”
“Nothing more important than doing what I say.”
The kitchen light flickered.
Carol cried, “Daddy’s in the barn, stobbed by the bull!”
October 2016
Prompt: Write a 53-Word Story about an anniversary
Cosmic Birthday by Ryan Riggs
Thirteen point eight two billion years: that’s all we know.
No day. No month. No decade. No century. Not even some millennia to narrow it down.
If you want a date you'll have to guess. Or choose.
I guess today’s as good as any.
Happy birthday, reality.
I hope you like chocolate cake.
September 2016
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about a turn
Victorian Blue Jeans by Scott D. Anderson
The turn of her ankle interests me. This girl, no Victorian, not bustled to hide her features, wears jeans, close fitting, comfortable in her own skin. She doesn't hide, she knows this ankle, enough to tempt, will draw others to more prominent features. I envy Victorian men, how much they had to discover.
August 2016
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about something melting
Gettysburg, July, 1863 by Theresa Wyatt*
One soldier took a bullet which shattered his femur. The next day he woke up in a cellar with a woman leaning over him picking wax from his beard. She apologized, said the doctor needed light to amputate in the dark. Candles melted down to nothing were stuck everywhere, even in her bonnet.
*This story was selected for inclusion in MICROFICTIONS: Exceptionally Short Stories published by W. W. Norton in 2018.
July 2016
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about independence
Self-Reliant Animals by Leigh Ward-Smith
First, make them dependent on you. But know: you're building a discrete organism. One atom at a time. Little by little, you change the covenant. Push when they cling. Make them walk. Until the membrane between you and them almost bursts. Then you let them go. Ribs uncaged, hearts exposed to the world.
June 2016
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about a bug
Altar Call by David E. Poston
“Why will you not turn from your wicked ways?" asked the preacher, as the choir sang about the precious blood of the Lamb.
I laid my head in Mama’s lap and gazed upward.
High above me, moths kept circling, endlessly battering against the globes of light hanging from their rusty chains.
May 2016
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about a ride
Circle of Life by Tripp Reade
There’s a carousel at the mall, a merry-go-round, with all the usual suspects: horses, zebras, unicorns, etc. She adored it. And yes, Heraclitus has that saying about no one rides the same carousel twice, so I was warned. But she climbed on when she was small, and now she’s not. Now she’s not.
April 2016
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about Nature giving life a twist
In Passing by Skip Keith
The iceberg felt the fracture then a split second later she fell away from the glacier. A sense of sorrow and dread filled her. She would float south to warmer waters and grow smaller and smaller. The one bright spot in her journey would be the night she felt the Titanic rub her.
March 2016
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about madness
Snow Angels by Bill McStowe
Out the slider they go, excited for winter’s first snow.
My hunt begins for hot chocolate, mugs, and marshmallow.
The slider opens. Closes. A mitten needs fixing.
Opens. Closes. Snow in the boot.
Opens. Closes. Opens. Closes. Opens. Closes.
Where is our hot chocolate, they want to know. Where is our hot chocolate?
February 2016
Prompt: write a 53-word story about something sweet
Honeybees by Peter Wise
The stonemason, hands hard as granite, knelt before the hive and gently pushed aside the bees. Later, as he spooned honey from a jar into his wife’s mouth, she discovered the stings, red and swollen like pomegranate pips. Slowly, she kissed each wound, tasting the bees, while her husband’s heart hovered and droned.
January 2016
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about something cold
Warm Heart by Teena Shields
I much prefer hearth-side to outside, but my little guy loves snow. Schussing down the hill in the yard, the crisp air steals his breathy, joyous cries. Red-cheeked and needing to pee, he comes in and brackets my face with snow-clad mittens. Cherishing that sweet contact, before he outgrows it, I flinch anyway.
December 2015
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about something slipping away
Ancestry by Mike Tuohy
A month after the stroke, Mama started getting names in the photo album right.
“That’s Reverend Kelso with Mr. Echols, holding the beagle. There’s your daddy and Mrs. Tate. She had the diabetes.”
“Hold on, Mama. That’s Dr. Stotts, not Daddy.”
Seeing her horrified expression, I felt half of my ancestry slip away.
November 2015
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about something dreaded that becomes a gift
Diamondback by Martha Petersen
The first time I spotted you—rattling, uncoiling—I’d have hacked you into sections. I was young, with tranquil pale skin. But now. You stretch against the asphalt, absorbing November’s last heat. I have no need for the axe. We live. You, with your sun-darkened scales, me, with my sun-cancered arms.
October 2015
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about falling
Junior, the Bastard by Ty Stumpf
Dad stayed long enough to call me Junior. Now, I’ve got a chemo pill bottle with his ashes. His wives got remains in whatever I found with a top in his bent-up trailer.
I about flushed mine, but I’m gonna pour them off the overpass and watch them fall. Like he did me.
September 2015
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about labor
52 Breaths by Cory Metzinger
Sweat dripped from my nose. My breath was short. My heart raced so fast I could hear it in my ears.
I’d practiced every day for this moment, but nothing could ever prepare me for the overwhelming pressure I now felt.
“Please, don’t fall over,” I whispered to the growing house of cards.
Note: During July and August of 2015, the 53-Word Story Contest went on summer hiatus and when we launched again in September, the contest changed from a weekly to a monthly competition.
June 2015
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about a trip
Open Road by Jane Laube Boch
Mommy screamed when a truck drove by. It looked like Daddy’s. But it wasn't, and we went back to putting our suitcases in the car. My backpack and teddy bear went up front with me. "Where are we going?" I asked.
Mommy revved the engine. "As far as my wallet will take us."