Plume Awards
The Plume Awards, started in 2017, are an annual flash fiction contest hosted by the Euphony magazine. The winning piece of writing and runner-ups are featured in the magazine and the person who places first wins a cash reward.
Plume Award 2023-2024
"Stars Aligned"
Winning Submission: Left to Lie
by Cam Ferguson
Many things have been said about what might happen on that fateful day. The end of the world? The return of the gods? The titans’ freedom from their chains? Or possibly nothing at all. Maybe the humans hadn’t gone too far.
As if.
I held the swaddle close to my chest, running across the barren landscape. Sirens blaring, lights flashing, helicopter blades whirring, my legs burning. We had come here for safety and were already on the brink of extinction. I saw the ships ahead, and began to smile with relief—until I felt a tug on my ankle.
I fell forward, the weight in my arms falling to the sand and rolling, high pitched crying following.
An armored figure picked up the babe, and I screamed. I yelled and kicked and groped at the sand beneath me, trying to reach for the only thing I cared for.
The tears in my eyes faltered as I saw the fleet of ships take off.
We watched in silence, the strangers and I, as those colossal figures became mere dots in the sky.
The weak had been abandoned by the divine, for the fear of what might happen, when the stars align.
Plume Awards 2022-2023
"The First Wish" and "The Last Wish"
Winning Submission: "The First Wish"
Choose Wisely by Kaz Allan
Johnny skipped through the rain and ancient buildings. The rain slid off his red raincoat. He played in the old rubble and nose-dived as he tripped on a brick, scraping his hands on the cold, damp concrete. His hands faded from a golden tan to red. Tears burst from his eyes.
As he wiped his tears, a melting white hand grabbed his arm. The bricks rose as a pair of eyes peered through the darkness at Johnny.
"Choose wisely," an echoing voice demanded.
"W-what?" Johnny stuttered.
"Make your wish. Choose wisely," the voice repeated.
Johnny pondered, the sludgy hand still wrapped around his arm. What did he want?
"Any wish?" Johnny questioned.
"Any wish," it replied.
"I wish to be rich!"
A glowing smile creeped into the darkness. "It will be done." The hand whipped back into the bricks, leaving a bit of sludge behind. The figure disappeared.
Johnny jumped up and sprinted back home, ready to see a bundle of cash on his front door. He flung open the door and saw his mother lying on the floor, next to her a paper titled:
"Life Insurance Beneficiary."
Winning Submission: "The Last Wish"
Golden Marble by Jaeden Aguirre
The tall man in the sweater gazed down with a grin.
"You want a wish and in return I get your soul." The man reached his hand out, revealing a golden marble. "This marble will grant you whatever you want, however much you want, as long as it is in one sentence."
"Why do you want my soul so much? You are so eager to get my soul that you offer a marble that could grant me whatever I want." The old man stood straight up, facing the tall man in the sweater, eye-to-eye. "I think not. I've learned for over 96 years, and I know that whatever this wish will bring, will not bring me happiness!" The old man limped back into his chair, unpausing the western movie that lit up the dark living room.
"You could relive your life! Have a second chance. Fix your past mistakes." The tall man in the sweater towered over the small old man. "Don't you want to live truly?"
"I already have lived." The old man stood for one last time, snatching the golden marble. "I wish for you, Death, to take me away."