2013 FICTION WINNERS

Portia Elan's "Equivalencies" from Cloud Rodeo

Your tattoo reaches all the way across my back: & I always thought it would be better: if my father never saw it.

Kenneth Gagnon's "Liar" from Drunk Monkeys

I think things went south because I was a habitual liar, especially about the story of how we met. I have an active imagination.

Kimberly Lojewski's "Baba Yaga's House of Forgotten Things" from Drunken Boat

Granny camp is the newest fad in the treatment of delinquents, especially those of us who come from broken homes or have problems respecting authority. The grannies get one summer to whip us into shape and instill values into us that they believe are lacking in these god-less times. They are mean and vindictive. Angry from years of being mistreated and forgotten about. Ornery with the toil of growing old.

Jared Yates Sexton's "Behold, I Come as a Thief" from Split Lip Magazine

Every weekend, when they had sex and walked around the apartment without any clothes on, he was starving the whole time. It took a lot out of him having sex like that. They were very adventurous and tried many positions. Sometimes, between positions, he would lean down and ask her if she liked a new position and she, being quite a positive and supportive person, would always say yes, she liked the new position.

Amber Sparks's "Birds with Teeth" from The Collagist

In my reports, I detailed my discoveries, drew pictures of the new species, the shape and size of the bones. You wrote about the desolate wilderness, about how ancient seashells littered the ground, about how the jawbones of monsters hung hungry from the limestone cliffs. You always were a better writer. You always had a bit of the showman in you.

Nicole M. Taylor's "In the Valley" from Wake: Great Lakes Thought & Culture

"But it's not really a love story," Joshua said, scrambling eggs. "It's about sacrifice. We want Orpheus to succeed, but it's hard not wonder if he really deserves to succeed." Green peppers fell lightly from his fingers. They were Fee's favorite. "He didn't lose anything or give anything up." She liked that he always remembered to put them in for her. She liked that he thought of her without thinking at all, that his fingers knew all her wants and little happinesses and performed them effortlessly for her.

***