The MFA Whidbey Student Community at Northwest Institute of Literary Arts

New for May

whidbeystudents — Sat, 05 May 2012 18:02:20 +0000

May Contest Theme: Reunions

The Student Choice Contest mailbox is now OPEN Click here.

Congratulations to Laura Loomis of Pittsburg, CA., winner of our April student choice contest.

INCRIMINATING PHOTOS

I could have avoided all that trouble, if only I had remembered to pay my blackmailer on time.

Normally I write the check with the rest of my monthly bills, so my husband, Worthington Tolliver IV, doesn’t see the photos of me with the 26-year-old tennis instructor. But I got distracted last month as I was writing checks to the Ladies’ Follicle Society (which provides wigs to needy children with bad haircuts), and to my plastic surgeon, Dr. Barnabas, who put this lovely slope on my nose. I got to daydreaming about last week’s tryst in the pool house with my young man, and then Worthy came in looking for his favorite golf clubs, and I stuffed the check into the envelope for the other blackmailer, the one who’s been threatening to expose our illegal stock trades. You’d think that the stock-trade blackmailer could have sent a refund or something; did he think I was tipping him for good service?

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New for April

whidbeystudents — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 21:46:34 +0000

Unfortunately, none of the entries for March knocked the socks off of our judge. There is no winner for the month of March. Please continue to submit new stories for the April contest!

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New for March

whidbeystudents — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:06:17 +0000

March’s winner had to be removed. Please check back in May for our next winner!

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New for February

whidbeystudents — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:13:04 +0000

Congratulations to Hannah-Jamie ‘Hannie’ Duncombe of Lyndhurst, Hants, UK. Winner of our January Student Choice Contest.

VILLIANS

The screams spread across the land in one continuous wave. Individually, they were piercing wails of terror that could not be mimicked by even the best of actors, and could only be born during times of true fear.

Mothers and fathers panicked and searched without method for their children. They shouted their names, and called for their babies to come home, but there were so many places for them to play.

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New for January

whidbeystudents — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:42:33 +0000

HAPPY NEW YEAR WRITERS

Congratulations to Renee Holland Davidson of Brea, CA. Winner of our December Student Choice Contest.

TOOTHLESS

Dorrie’s eyes pop open. She’s had that dream again, the one where her teeth fall out one by one, piling up like tiny tombstones in the palm of her hand. She still feels the mounting horror and panic as yet another one drops, the pile becoming so large, she’s forced to use both hands to contain it.

It’s not an uncommon dream–she thinks it has to do with feeling as if you’ve lost control of your life. Or is that the dream about driving? In that one, her hands are firmly on the wheel, but her feet can’t reach the brake pedal. She slides farther and farther down in the seat, straining, extending her toes, but no matter how hard she tries, how far she sinks, it’s not close enough. The effort exhausts her, makes her sleepy, and now not only can’t she brake the car, she’s barely able keep her eyes open, barely able to keep hold of the steering wheel.

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New for December

whidbeystudents — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:12:54 +0000

Congratulations to Lindsey Walker of Seattle, WA. Winner of our November Student Choice Contest.

THE TROUBLE DOGS GET INTO

It’s the way she said it, stirring her coffee, syrup sprawling over her buttered pancakes. The way she said it got me more than what she said. What she said, in her voice, heavy and certain as iron skillets, what she said was, “I told him it don’t matter y’all didn’t plan it. Her instincts’ll kick in. She’ll take care of her own.” A flapjack crumble bobbled in her cheek dimple as she spoke, leaning forward on sticky elbows.

My empty stomach puckered. My fingertips remembered newborn skin. I hadn’t been trying to eavesdrop; I’d just stopped by to top off their coffees. I excused myself, slumping past the restaurant kitchen to the employee restroom. Here, the scent of chlorine bleach arm-wrestled bacon grease.

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New for November

whidbeystudents — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:26:55 +0000

Unfortunately, there was no winner for October. Step up the submissions and keep them coming!

New for October

whidbeystudents — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 23:14:27 +0000

Unfortunately, there was no winner for September. Keep the submissions coming!

New for September

whidbeystudents — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 16:05:10 +0000

Congratulations to Louise Beech of East Yorkshire, UK. Winner of our August Student Choice Contest.

TEASPOONS, SOCKS, AND MISSING CHILDREN

Yesterday I bought six teaspoons in Sainsbury’s for one-pound-twenty a pack. They’re those cheap ones, thin, weightless, barely suitable for stirring tea and definitely not sturdy enough for flapjack and custard. It was unusually sunny for March and I had to take off my scarf, which I left in the trolley and realised too late to go back and get it. My mouth ached because I’d watched Russell Howard the night before and couldn’t sleep for laughing; he has a way of looking at the world that makes you love and hate it in equal measure. I hadn’t gone searching supermarkets for spoons, even though ours have been disappearing recently.

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New for August

whidbeystudents — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 05:40:46 +0000

Congratulations to Annam Manthiram of Rio Rancho, NM. Winner of our July Student Choice Contest.

LADIES SPECIAL

The one-eyed woman only came when there was a question to be answered. She would answer it, if the person in doubt desired illumination.

She always wore a yellow sari, drooping, ochre-colored sunflowers painted on by an Indian artist who had never before seen sunflowers but presumed to know their shape and tint. A dingy, gray sweatshirt covered her torso, which complimented the American sneakers on her feet. Sindoor, crimson holy dust from Hindu temples, was smeared along the part in her blanched hair. She had no teeth and only one eye: greenish-brown, long lashes reaching for her one eyebrow.

The one-eyed woman boarded trains seeking those in need, for people in motion often had questions. One had to wait patiently for her providence; if not, she would turn away and the question would forever go unanswered.

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