Two Hearts Beating

I'm very excited to announce the winner of our Robots flash fiction contest is Two Hearts Beating by Marcelo Medone.

Thank you to everyone who submitted stories. It was definitely hard to pick a winner, and it was exciting to see a mix of stories from regular contributors and brand new authors.

If anyone has any suggestions for contest themes, please let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter

I led Lisa through the maze of underground corridors. We had no time to waste; the exterminator robots were on our trail.

"I'm exhausted," Lisa told me, panting.

"We have to get to the vault. Only there we will be safe," I replied, without letting go of her hand and moving even faster.

Suddenly, we ran into an automatic barrier, equipped with a heartbeat detector.

"CHECKING," a voice yelled.

"TWO HUMANS, CORRECT," it announced, after a few seconds.

The door opened for us.

Back in the vault, I gave my best artificial smile and was thankful that Lisa was pregnant.

From Guest Contributor Marcelo Medone

Marcelo (1961, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a fiction writer, poet, essayist and screenwriter. His works have received numerous awards and have been published in magazines and books, individually or in anthologies, in multiple languages in more than 40 countries all over the world, including the US.He has been nominated for the 2021 Pushcart Prize.

Facebook: Marcelo Medone / Instagram: @marcelomedone

Contest Winner: Mark Thomas

I just posted this month's winning story, Bass Fishing In America by Mark Thomas. Congratulations to Mark on the winning story and thanks to everyone who participated in the latest flash fiction contest. As always, to the winner goes the bragging rights.

I'm going to take a break and be back in a couple months with a new contest. Perhaps a holiday themed one??? Only time will tell.

Bass Fishing In America

CONTEST WINNER:

The bass must talk to each other.

“Hey, I’m not going to chase those chartreuse spinners today. Are you guys with me?”

It’s amazing that creatures with brains the size of a split pea can outsmart other creatures that are supposedly the pinnacle of creation, or happenstance. Anglers driving hundred-thousand-dollar boats equipped with underwater cameras, sonar, and drones occasionally get skunked.

“Let’s follow those surface poppers right up to the boat, then suddenly dart into that network of rocky crevices.”

“Okay.”

Stealth trolling technology, GPS markers, anise-scented lures.

I’m really not surprised that the war in Afghanistan didn’t go better.

From Guest Contributor Mark Thomas