PRIME NUMBER MAGAZINE, ISSUE 137, JUL – SEP 2018
53-WORD STORIES
Anne Anthony
March 2018
Prompt: write a 53-word story about luck
Judged by Kevin Morgan Watson
Followed by Author Bio
Might Get Lucky
"Just my luck," she whispered to Jane sitting at the bar.
"They like their mothers," Jane whispered back. "Listen, you might get lucky. When's the last time..."
"Shut up."
She swallowed her third shot of bourbon, and considered her options.
"Mrs. Kelly?" He flashed a familiar grin. "Bobby. Remember? You were my babysitter.”
~ ~ ~
Anne Anthony has been published in Poetry South, Crack the Spine, Dead Mule School for Southern Literature and elsewhere. She recently released The Collection: Flash Fiction for Flash Memory, an anthology of stories selected for memory-impaired adults. Anne is a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network. Check out her website at anneanthony.weebly.com.
Laura Ruth Loomis
April 2018
Prompt: write a 53-word story about a poem
Judged by Liz Prato, author of Baby's On Fire
Followed by Author Bio
Hailstones
"It's so vivid." Jason pointed to the passage where Joanna described her father's fists coming down like the hailstones that left permanent dents in the hood of the old pickup. The way the hail had burned against her cheeks. "I wish I could write like you."
"No," Joanna said quietly. "You really don't."
~ ~ ~
Laura Ruth Loomis is a social worker in the San Francisco area. Her fiction chapbook, Lost in Translation, was published in 2016 by Wordrunner Press. Her fiction, poetry, and nonfiction have appeared in Writer’s Digest, Writer Advice, On the Premises, Phone Fiction, Nasty Women Poets, and elsewhere. She is on Twitter at @LauraRuthless.
Nancy Jorgensen
May 2018
Prompt: write a 53-word story about a lost sock
Judged by Barbara Presnell, author of Blue Star
Followed by Author Bio
The Gift
Esophageal, doctors said. She refused ports and pouches, clutched her needles instead. She flicked bamboo until knit two, purl two hugged my ankles, peeked between my boots and jeans and smelled of wet wool when it rained. The lost one wove a knot in my gut, twisting and twining until it was found.
~ ~ ~
A musician and writer, Nancy Jorgensen plays with the music of notes and words. Her choral music education books are published by Hal Leonard Corporation and Heritage Music. With daughter Elizabeth, she has written a memoir of daughter Gwen Jorgensen's journey to 2016 Olympic gold in triathlon. She is looking for a publisher.