FFF Competition Twenty-Two Judge’s Report by Emma Phillips
12th July 2024
Huge thanks to Ian and the Free Flash Fiction team for the opportunity to judge this brilliant competition. This is the third time I have had this honour and it really was a pleasure to read the fifteen long listed stories. As I knew it would be, the standard of entries was high, so whittling down to the shortlist was no easy task! Commiserations to those who just missed out. As with every competition, the judge’s views are subjective, so I hope the long-listed stories are soon out in the world.
The first shortlisted story ‘The Mermaid’s Tail’ transports us to Tamil Nadu, where its themes of inheritance, divided loyalties and loss play out in coconut groves “where the village’s wealth is.” The land is the constant in this story, the author deftly places us on the shore as events unfold “not even a hundred feet from the roaring layers of Kodiyakarai sea water.”
The second of the shortlisted stories ‘For What We Are About to Receive’ is a triumph of structure; it builds a clever and compelling picture of a butcher’s last supper with his wife and stepson. The author uses the ‘stern tick-tock of his grandfather clock’ to set the scene and allude to what is coming. The table, like the scene, is cleverly set. Tension builds throughout, as we learn how the butcher stepfather dominates the household. The descriptive language builds character beautifully, and we almost taste the liver ‘dishwater grey’ and ‘tough as belts.’ This is a story to devour; we celebrate the ending.
The final shortlisted piece ‘FOUR OF THESE FIVE DREAMS TURNED OUT TO BE TRUE’, is a fabulous example of how a strong title can grab the reader’s attention and complement the story. I loved the structure, the ambiguity and the playfulness of this tale about an affair, told through dreamscape and nightmare. The narrative twists like ‘the rubber treadmill, the harsh overhead lights in the gym and in the wall of mirrors, multiple reflections of you.’ It showcases much of what is great about flash; its author uses the form so well to highlight the urgency and ambivalence of the human condition.
The first of the highly commended pieces ‘Johnny is a Fighter’, grips from the outset. There was so much to admire about the language. Again, its author cleverly hints at the truth behind the ‘tiny lie’ and creates a poetry in language of the boxing ring, with its ‘rhythm of midnight hoofbeats’, ‘black as falling and falling and falling’. We imagine the street tough, prize fighter Johnny and feel his pain on multiple levels, as well as the pain of the narrator, perpetrator of the ‘huge lie’ which threatens to engulf him. The writing is powerful and ends with a gut punch.
‘Two Teardrops in a Tidal Wave’ is another beautifully crafted tale of love and loss. We follow the narrator through their memory scape, as shared moments haunt the narrative and the protagonist moves us through a picturesque landscape crafted by the author; ‘a watercolour painted in shades of dawn and August.’ The relationship is wonderfully drawn, and the writer delicately weaves humour, love and nostalgia through a tale about grief. It is a piece I kept rereading.
The winning story ‘Hungry Like the Wolf’ is a modern take on the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, skilfully re-imagined for our times. As someone who grew up on traditional tales, I couldn’t resist the subversion of Little Red, with her ‘Smash the Patriarchy’ hoodie, willing to single handedly cross the forest, seduce the sawmill apprentices, tuck granny up and leave the wolf ‘snicker snack, dead and done’. The absent celebrity chef mother on her date with ‘Meister Singer’ creates an amusing back story. There is a lot of laughter in this piece but ultimately who can’t love a heroine who flips wolf burgers and sharpens her blade ‘for morning’? Again, this was a story that offered something new in each reading and it makes for a very worthy winner. Congratulations!
Emma Phillips