First of all, I apologise for the delay. Been travelling for most of July. Just back from some remote places deep in the Japanese countryside — Ishikawa with all its rice paddies and edamame fields, “deep Osaka” (the experienced gaijins would know what I mean; I’m talking about that intense, local part of the city where tourists almost never show up), and most recently the rolling green hills of Hokkaido.
I’m online for the first time since end of July, and before doing anything else, I’m here announcing the winners.
Apologies once again.
What a month it has been for the Flash Fiction contest. I’ve been going through the entries again and again, ranking and re-ranking, short-listing, and reading the stories to the point when I believe I know them all by heart.
I wanted to mention one thing before announcing the winner: I’m honoured to host such high quality material at this site. Seriously honoured.
Here are the stories that made it to the final short-list after hours of agonised decision making:
1. Ryan’s Promise by Adrian Carey.
2. The Whispering Man by Gareth S. Young.
3. Anything for Love by Eden Connor.
4. In Space they Can’t Hear the Screams by Carol Willis.
5. Summer Son by Liz Powell.
I’d have loved to send the prize to every writer on this short-list; but I have to select one story using the clear criteria for the classic 55-word pieces.
So, here we go.
The July 2012 contest winner is:
Ryan’s Promise by Adrian Carey.
This story, I believe, is quite close to perfection. It has the drama, the style, the clear conflict and the resolution; and it gets bonus points from me for ending with a cliff-hanger.
Congrats Adrian – I’ll contact you by email to arrange the payment.
The prompt for August is:
“And by the way…”
Extra points for adding a steam punk touch 
Happy writing,
Austin.
