By Nadia Bulkin

~Editors' Prize Winner~

On the Island

“They did not remember that this was not their first shot at life. They remembered the vapid dark that came before sunrise and called it the long dark sleep, and went on.”

By Derek Dexheimer

Armstrong

“Outside, physics wracked the world and entropy ground it down, but here a quiet light held the Highest and his two acolytes still.”

By Errid Farland

Julio's Ark

“Noah wasn't the only one with an ark, you know. Julio built one, too, out in the Mohave Desert, per the command of God.”

By Marc E. Fitch

The Forgotten Ear of Corn

“I had never seen anyone die before and I had never seen a baby born before, and now I had seen both in one night. ”

By Kurt Kirchmeier

Without Wings

“Lucias could feel the girl's aura from a full six paces, the lapis lazuli waves pounding against his chest like bass-heavy music turned up way too high.”

By Lauri Kubuitsile

The Last Rhino in Mutare

“Like so many things in Zimbabwe, he got the name Ronald from the white women who ran the park and never gave a thought to the true name of things.”

By Richard Lee

Simple Rules for Coming Back from the Dead

“They'd made rules: Whatever you do, call first was the first one. And not after the fashion of horror-movie spirits . . .”

By Susan Niz

Washing Girl

“Everyone knows we're not supposed to go to La Palína, the curve at the river that gives way to deep, rapid currents that wait to pull, to churn small legs downward.”

By Angela Rega

The Firestone

“No one dares look at Mater Rosa. She sits in our circle, staring at the Firestone, her transparent eyes never straying from the stone that has been glowing red all afternoon.”

By Maryanne Stahl

The Rabbit King

“At the bottom of the garden lives the king of rabbits. The one cats can't catch and the fattest moon's light doesn't frighten.”