January 2021 Storytwigs Competition Winners
For our second Storytwigs competition, we asked writers to submit up to three 100-word micro-stories on based on the prompt “Hammer.” We selected these as the top five entries. Storytwigs has new competitions every month, and more information on this month’s competition is available here.
1st place — Found on Zillow, by Amanda Lamadrid
15 Mountain LN, Lakeville, MA, 02357
$350,000
2 Bed
1 Bath
1,018 Sq. Ft.
Yellow cottage, white wood siding. Location quiet and rural. Built by my husband, for Ava. The hammer used is engraved (available upon request). They met at fifteen, married at nineteen, moved in at twenty. Their initials carved into threshold (can be painted over). She passed at twenty-three (outside of the home).
We’re thirty-five, looking to sell. Our family’s outgrown it. Newlywed couples preferred (this point is negotiable). Contact me directly. Tours by appointment only. Sellers motivated – present all reasonable offers.
2nd place — The Artist, by Hannah Wang
One time, Giuseppe Verdi visited our forge. He was composing an opera and looking for inspiration. "Help us, signore," we cried, panting. "We labor until our bones give way, yet we cannot feed our children." Verdi said nothing. He took some notes, then rode away in a splendid horse-drawn carriage.
Six months later, Il trovatore premiered in Rome. The "Anvil Chorus" in Act II was a favorite of the critics, who applauded the number for its lively percussion and rousing chorus of Zingari singing the praises of hard work with every cheerful strike of their hammers.
3rd place — Media Literacy, by Amanda Lamadrid
You’re stalking red speedo guy from swim meet on IG and this is his bio:
“Be the hammer.”
You do a little research, for an opening line the next time you hand R.S. a towel from the sidelines.
Google credits Erwin Rommel for the quote.
You wonder if R.S. knows the dude he’s quoting wanted to have Hitler’s babies.
Nah, probably just heard it one day and thought it sounded tough.
But don’t hammers exist to be used?
He's basically admitting he's a tool.
4th place — The Seance, by Emily Schneider
Jennie—pixie cut, freckles—snuck into the cemetery ahead of me. She wanted to contact Virginia Woolf. (I knew she was out of my league.) Here’s how it went down: pentagram, candles, a lot of waiting. I had a straight-C average and my nickname on the football team was Hammer because I’d sacked so many quarterbacks. You don’t know what’s going to turn someone, soften them, but it’s been fifteen years and she swears it was that dog-eared Mrs. Dalloway she found in my backpack that night. All those notes in the margins. How hard she could tell I’d tried.
5th place — Hi, How May I Help You?, by Rachel Qing Pang
I open my dreary eyes and raise my hand, stopping at “hi”. Standing tall at the store entrance, I greet my customers.
An old lady slips into the store, unbeknownst to my boss. I swivel my head, trying to follow her.
Her eyes match mine. I go into overdrive. My feet are rooted to the ground. She crosses the store, towards me. She caresses me up and down.
I cannot breathe.
She pulls a hammer out of her purse.
Bang! She smashes my knees.
Crash! I crumble to the ground.
Bzzing! Sparks fly.
“I knew you’re a robot!” She cries.