Short Story Contest Winner!

I'm excited to announce this year's short story contest winner! (Yep, I'm planning on doing a short story contest every year). But before I announce the winner, I want to thank everyone who participated. Your stories were so much fun to read! I had such a hard time picking a winner. But now it's time to say who the winner is!

Are you all ready?

The winner is...

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Keep scrolling...

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Wait for it...

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It's coming...

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Just a little bit more....

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Penelope Lauer!!

Congratulations, Penelope! You wrote an intriguing story that was both fun and interesting to read. Amazing job!!

Here's her short story:

Returning

Holcomb straightened. His back hurt. A lot. He had forgotten what driving for 5 hours felt like. Especially at night.

He glanced at his sister in the passenger seat. Jimi had fallen asleep an hour ago, and her dark hair fell onto her face. There were lines under her eyes. She hadn’t gotten much sleep in the last year. None of them had.

A look in the rearview mirror told him that Eva and Annabelle were asleep as well. They were slumped over together, Annabelle’s head on her older sister’s shoulder.

Gas station coffee sat cold in the median. His credit card still worked, shockingly. He hadn’t used it since that day.

The day their lives changed.

On that day they had found themselves, well, somewhere else. In a different realm. That was in the middle of a war.

It wasn’t their war to fight. Good grief, it wasn’t even their dimension. But they fought anyway. They labored tirelessly anyway. They celebrated every win. Mourned every loss. He and his sisters found a friend on every mission, and every battlefield. They lost more than they could count.

But then the war was over. They weren’t needed anymore. It was time to say goodbye. For good. 

The jump tunnel had spat them out in Kansas City, Missouri. 200 miles from home. So Holcomb pulled out his old wallet he had managed not to lose, and rented a car.

And here they were. On an interstate. At 1:00 AM. In the dark.

The road was long. But not as long as the last year had been. Being at war tired you to the depths of your bones.

But the war was over.

They were back in the world they belonged.

And they were headed home.