Our FREE
53-Word Story Contest
On the first day of each month we offer a prompt to subscribers of Prime Number Magazine to write a 53-word story—no more, no less—and send it to us by the fifteenth day of the month. Our editors select one winning story, and the author receives a book from Press 53 as well as publication in Prime Number Magazine. Want to play along? Subscribe to Prime Number Magazine (it’s FREE) and we’ll send you the prompt on the first day of each month. You can also find the prompt and the previous month’s winning story on the 53-Word Story Contest page.
Scroll down to read our winners for April, May, and June 2022
H.T. Grossen
April 2022
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about a date
“Dusk” by H.T. Grossen
Harold’s arthritic fingers straightened his tie.
Outside, Geraldine tended her flowers. She always loved gardening; but the sun was dropping quickly, and mother would soon call her in to dinner.
A dapper older man approached, carrying a tray of lemonade and sandwiches. He smiled.
Recognition flickered in hollow baby-blues.
“Happy 50th Anniversary, darling.”
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53 Word Bio
H.T. Grossen lives and writes in the long evening shadow of the Colorado Rocky Mountains with his magical wife and pulchritudinous daughters. He hopes humanity's inevitable suffering and downfall is long and drawn out, as he has many more stories to tell before we are all extinct. Read his work at htgrossen.com
Cora Rowe
May 2022
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about meditation
"St. Maria’s Cathedral Yoga: 6 - 7 a.m."
Under candied glass, the women kneel in aisles of stone. Body-bound spirits angle skyward, earthward, hold still. Nearest the narthex, the late ones glimpse anew sun-bleached emergency diagrams nailed to corkboard: fire, tornado, active shooter. But soon, this fresh old fear—even this too shall pass, like breath, like leaves in a stream.
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53-Word Bio
Cora Rowe lives in Pittsburgh with her husband/Settlers-of-Catan-arch-nemesis. She received her MFA from University of Oregon and her PhD from Georgia State University. Her most rewarding artistic experience has been seeing her work come alive on the theatre stage. She is currently finishing her first novel, a contemporary Southern Gothic set in Georgia.
Steve Saulsbury
June 2022
Prompt: Write a 53-word story about a flag
“Letting It Fly”
(Remembering Rick)
Having Thanksgiving at the apartment behind Super Fresh, six months sober. My car with the triangle inside a circle sticker. No more Fuzzy Navels. Your long hair; freak flag, my sponsor said.
More than just a drunkalogue. Out with your dog, arrowhead hunting. In another time, counting coup, tying feathers to a stick.
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53-Word Bio
Steve Saulsbury rediscovered his old writing interests when an opportunity arose to study at Washington College. Although sidelined by the pandemic, he enjoys visiting historic places, such as Gettysburg, and Flemington, New Jersey, home to the Lindbergh kidnapping trial. Clean and sober since 1991, he stays fueled by fitness endeavors and good coffee!