Thank you to all who entered, and to Nancy Lemann, the final judge. The winning story and the runner-up will be published in the next print issue of the magazine.
winner: “Prisoners of the Multiverse,” Jacob Appel
runner-up: “War Story,” Austin Wilson
honorable mention: “The Junior Embalmer,” Jane Stark
“Goat Pharmacy,” Robert Glick
“What We Do,” Cassie Condrey
finalists (in no particular order):
“A Purposeful Violence,” Nicole Louise Reid
“Fractures,” Lane Stewart
“In the Walls,” Miha Mazzini
“Original Inhabitants,” Elise Atchinson
“Ruins,” Laura McHugh
semifinalists (in no particular order):
“The Shootist,” Vickie Weaver
“Fool that I Am,” Thomas Linville
“The Box,” Samantha Villenave
“The Puzzle Man,” Meghan Plummer
“Fishbone Confessions,” Lucille Bellucci
“Shrieking Gesticulating Women,” Martin Cloutier
“Dancer at the Jump,” James O’Brien
“When Santa Claus Comes Knocking…” Levi Henricksen
“Sukinshippu,” Jim Bainbridge
“The Victim’s Father,” Robert Goodwin
“One of the Funner Parties I’ve Been To,” Katya Apekina
“The Story of the Eclipse,” Mark McBride
“Reading Ann Carson at the Beach,” Ruth Joffre
“Do the October Dangle,” Matthew Pitt
“The Puzzle Man,” Meghan Plummer
“The Visit,” Michael Tasker
“The Woodcutter,” Rachel Yoder
“Bigger than a Grain of Rice,” Arin Black
“Mickey and Me,” Jeff McConaghy
“Gunn,” Nora Khan
“Mistletoe Man,” Ann Ritter
“Reliable Source,” Benjamin Morris
“The Substitute,” Jonathan Potter
“The Water Behind,” Ross McMeekin
“Tramp,” Karen Tucker