Attention Educators! If you are using the 53-Word Story Contest in your classroom, please send an email to our publisher at Kevin@Press53.com for a free copy of What Dwells between the Lines. We created this anthology especially for you!

Our FREE Monthly 53-Word Story Contest

It's free, it's fun; the winner gets published in Prime Number Magazine and receives a free book from Press 53. Be sure to subscribe to our email updates for free. You’ll receive an email on the first day of each month with our winning story and the prompt for our next contest.

Open to writers around the world who write in English

Congratulations to Our Winner for May 2025

Last month we received 334 53-word stories from writers around the world!

Termination by David Phipps

To: Daniel Miller
From: Charles Harrington

Subject: Termination Slip

Your employment with Harrington Engineering is hereby terminated without cause. Enclosed is payment for earned salary, accrued vacation, sick leave and severance compensation as required by your employment contract.

Dan’s copy only:
Reemployment is available after your honeymoon.
Take good care of my daughter.

~ ~ ~

53-Word Bio
David Phipps is a retired lawyer and lifelong reader of mysteries and science fiction. He writes short stories as a hobby and enjoys creating crazy situations for the characters to blunder through. He is a woodworker and an eager visitor to craft shows. He and most of his children live in Southern California. 

Editors’ Note
As our winner for May, David will receive a free copy of What Dwells between the Lines: Fifty-Three 53-Word Story Contest Winners, Plus Tips on Writing Remarkably Brief Fiction. His story will appear on this page for the month of June and will be published in Issue 277 of Prime Number Magazine on September 1, 2025. Congratulations, David!

Read More of Our Winning Stories

But first, read your prompt for this month

Enter the 53-Word Story Contest for June 2025

Deadline is the 15th day of the month

Our Prompt for June: How about a riddle this month? I grow from my roots, yet am not a tree. I can be a lock but not the kind you open with a key. Do you know it? Take your time, this isn’t a race. That being said, there is a winner and it’s usually really close.

Write a 53-word story about hair

The winner for June will receive a copy of What Dwells between the Lines: Fifty-Three 53-Word Story Contest Winners, Plus Tips on Writing Remarkably Brief Fiction, and their story will appear on this page for the month of July and will be published in Issue 277 of Prime Number Magazine on September 1, 2025.

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Please read our guidelines carefully

DEADLINE is the 15th day of the month
NO ATTACHMENTS, PLEASE!
Paste your story in the body of your email to 53wordstory@gmail.com

HINT: Each month, when we offer a new prompt, we introduce it with a short 53-word description that suggests several ways you might consider the prompt. Even the photo can offer a different way to look at it. What are we looking for? A story that surprises us in its approach to the prompt, something unusual and creative. The first idea that pops into your head probably popped into the heads of others too, so you might want to take another look at how your story can be different. Challenge yourself to find an unusual way to write a 53-word story about the prompt, and don’t think you have to use the prompt in your story, literally; implying the word works too. Surprise us! That’s what we are looking for.

Here’s how to enter (please read our guidelines carefully before sending us your story):

–Your story must be 53 words—no more, no less—titles are not included in the word count. Stories with fewer than or more than 53 words will be disqualified. Send only stories; poetry with line breaks will not be considered.
–There is no age limit. This is a FREE contest, so there is no age restriction.
–Be careful of word count. Hyphenated words count as one word. 
–Titles are not included in the word count. If your story is not titled, we will create a title for publication.
–One submission per person. 'Nough said.
–NO ATTACHMENTS! Paste your story into the body of your email. Stories sent as attachments, or images embedded in the email, will not be considered.
–By entering this contest the author grants Press 53 First Serial Rights to publish the story in Prime Number Magazine and to archive it permanently on our website. All other rights remain with the author.
–Email your story directly to 53wordstory@gmail.com by the 15th  day of the month, midnight Eastern Time. NO ATTACHMENTS, PLEASE!

Our judges for the 53-Word Story Contest are the editors of Press 53 and Prime Number Magazine. Our winner for this month’s contest will receive a free book from Press 53, and the winning story will appear here on the 53-Word Story Contest page for the entirety of the month following the contest, and will also be published, along with the author’s *photo and 53-word bio, in the next issue of Prime Number Magazine.

(*we will request your photo and 53-word bio if your story is our winner, so be prepared!)

Available now!