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Flash Your Fiction 2019: The winners The second annual Byron Writers Festival Flash Your Fiction competition attracted a highly competitive field of more than 170 entries from all over Australia. Entrants had a word limit of two hundred and had to use the word ‘sunlight’ in their story. Congratulations to Sharon Fraser, whose story ‘Underwater Lily’ won first place. The first runner-up was CJ Vallis with ‘How Hard Could It Be?’, and the second runner-up Caroline Henning with ‘The Note’. We are pleased to publish the three stories here. Of this year’s competition, judges said, ‘Along with the sheer volume of entries this year, judges were impressed by the skill shown in crafting these mininarratives, as well as the diversity of subject matter – although, as in 2018, many stories dealt with trauma or loss. All shortlisted entries are first-class examples of flash fiction, with the winning entry a testament to the power of ambiguity as well as pacing, rhythm and original use of language.’ The other shortlisted writers and stories are: Christine Johnson: ‘Trolley Trance’ Denise Marshall: ‘The Beast’ Suzanne Novak: ‘My Act of Remembrance’ Beth Gibbings: ‘Two Truths’ Tracey Lloyd: ‘Escaping the Vortex’ Madeleine Ackerman: ‘We First Met as a Metaphor’ Dettra Rose: ‘Alesandro Goes Home’
06 | SPRING 2019 northerly
Underwater Lily Sharon Fraser
Lucy woke in the dark to a watery dance of shadow and light on her ceiling. Someone had left the pool lights on. She scanned the bedroom, still monotone in the predawn light. She liked this colourless time. She wasn’t ready for colour. Lily’s bed was empty and perfectly made. A bear, just like hers, slumped miserably against the wall. Lucy and Lily were identical, except that Lily was profoundly deaf. Most people addressed both of them through Lucy, mistaking Lily’s deafness for absence. Most people were stupid. But now, she really was . . . absent. They used to feel like one person. The same person. Only Lily’s deafness reminded them that they were different. Except when they were underwater. Then, submerged in the weightless, transparent volume, they were absolutely one. Together again, identical, in the silence. Just as they had been in the womb. Lucy got up and crept out of her room, their room. She padded through the house and outside to the pool. The first rays of sunlight were creeping over the edge where she stood at the deep end, making their way slowly across the surface. She dived in, once again, looking for Lily.