Story Title: The Game
“I found it!” Stella yells, waving a yellow envelope up in the air.

The girls cheer in unison, and one by one, appear through the thick fog.

“Finally!” Becky says, trudging her steps. “I don’t know how much longer I can walk.”

“I knew we were close,” Stella says, mopping off the mist on her glasses with her sleeves.

Maggie approaches and pauses, while Victoria trails behind her.

“Just read the clue,” Maggie says, resting her palms on her knees.

Stella rips the flap open with her fingers and yanks out a white folded card.

“What does it say?” Becky asks impatiently, wiping the sweat on her forehead with the bottom of her sweatshirt.

“It says,” Stella pauses, now squinting her eyes.

“Well? Tell us. We can still win,” Victoria says, her hands clasped together.

“How can we win when it’s already dark? For all we know, it’s all over,” Becky scoffs at her.

Victoria throws her hands up in disgust.

“It’s hard to see,” Stella says, swiveling the card in front of her.

“Flash your light at her,” Becky says, nudging Victoria with her elbow.

“Give me a second,” Victoria says, fumbling with the button on the flashlight.

No car has driven down this dark road in almost two hours. The next street light is a mile away. The girls were supposed to find the last envelope before dark.

Stella shut her eyes and sticks her hand out as Victoria’s flashlight blinds her.

“What are you doing? Lower that. She can’t see,” Becky pushes Victoria’s arm down.

“Sorry, I can’t see either,” Victoria says. “Why do I have to be in charge of the light anyway? This isn’t even mine,” she says, grinding her teeth.

“Just do it!” Becky orders.

Victoria lifts her fist at Becky.

“I saw that,” Becky huffs.

“Good,” Victoria retorts.

“Just read it, Stella,” Maggie says, rolling her eyes at the girls.

As the wind howls, Stella grips the sides of the card and moves it toward the light. “Thanks,” she says. “I-I can see it now.”

Victoria steadies her arm.

Stella blinks her eyes before proceeding to read the clue.

“Keep walking until you clear the trees. After the flash, you’ll see this,” Stella says, taking her time with every word.

“After the flash, you’ll see this,” Maggie mumbles to herself, pacing back and forth.

“What could it be?” Becky says, with her hands now on her waist.

“The flash must be something bright,” Victoria blurts.

Becky’s eyes widen as she turns her head toward Victoria. “The street light,” she says. “Which means…”

“You’ll see this…is?” Maggie says.

“The house!” Victoria and Becky say in chorus.

“Regina’s house!” they shout, smacking their hands together in loud hi-fives.

“We’re close. Let’s go!” Maggie says, rushing down the empty road.

“Victoria flashes her light as they all follow behind Maggie.

A thousand steps later, Maggie jogs ahead and announces, “I think I see Regina’s house!” she says, pointing at what appears to be a gray roof, half a mile away.

“Thank god,” Victoria’s blurts, out of breath. “Trust me, guys. On my 16th Birthday, we’re just eating cake. No scavenger hunts.”

“This party better be worth it, because I can’t feel my legs,” Becky complains, her arms around Victoria’s shoulders.

“Well, I can’t feel my arms,” Victoria says. Becky looks up at her and they chuckle.

“Hurry up, guys!” Maggie says, as she scurries down the dirt road.

Maggie turns around and sees Becky and Victoria dragging their steps toward her. As they catch up to her, Maggie notices Stella standing alone behind them, looking back at the cluster of trees.

“Wait up, guys!” Maggie yells out, waving her hands at Becky and Victoria.

They sigh and turn around. “What is it?” Becky says, as they follow Maggie back.

Maggie takes giant strides and approaches Stella.

“What’s wrong?” Maggie asks.

“T-t-the last clue,” Stella stammers, then swallows hard.

“What about the last clue?” Becky asks, releasing Victoria.

Stella does not move or answer.

“You’re freaking us out. Just tell us!” Victoria cries.

Stella retrieves the envelope from her back pocket and stares at it.

“Something is missing,” Stella says.

“What do you mean?” Maggie asks.

“There’s more?” Becky whines. “I’m tired and hungry. I can’t take any more of this,” she says, throwing her hands up in the air.

“But we found the house. It’s right there. Riddle solved.” Victoria says, her eyebrows furrowed.

“That’s not the house,” Stella says, glaring at the darkness. “I made it up,” she continues, her voice cracking.

“Made what up?” Maggie asks, her heart racing.

“The clue,” Stella says. “I made it all up,” she explains, avoiding their eyes.

“What do you mean? You found the envelope and read us the clue,” Victoria says.

“But that wasn’t what the card said,” Stella explains, her voice now deep and stern.

With her hands trembling, Stella pulls the card out of the envelope and opens it.

Maggie, Victoria, and Becky cling to each other.

Stella moves forward, crushing the leaves beneath her shoes. She opens the card slowly and faces them. Cold sweat drips down the girls’ backs, as they wait in anticipation.

Stella stands before them, her knees knocking against each other. Her head drops as the piece of paper slips off her quivering hands and falls to the ground—revealing the inside of the card.

The girls gasp—theirs lips trembling in fright. Their faces, pale. Stark white.

Like the absence of ink on paper.

I recently started querying my fantasy novel trilogy. Or the first book in the series anyway. This is my first time querying a novel specifically. Honestly, it has been a mostly positive experience for me so far. I have gotten 3 rejections of the 20 I've submitted, but that has not gotten me down. In general, I have felt way more positive about this process than I ever did querying screenplays.

My real struggle has actually been finding publishers to query. As I don't have an agent, I'm looking at publishers willing to take unagented fantasy submissions. So many publishers that were recommended to me to try have closed their submissions. Then there are tons of walls to me personally. I have run into roadblocks because I'm the wrong gender, race, nationality, orientation, and so on. And, sadly, a lot of the publishers I had been recommended in the past have gone under since I started publishing.

I'm hoping to get to at least 100 query submissions, but I'm struggling to find them. I have used query tracker, but the number of open fantasy submission opportunities was very limited. I continue to believe there's room for me somewhere though, so I'll keep looking and submitting where I can.

Congratulations go out to @coreymp for her winning flash fiction: The Game!
Definitely read this tension-packed story!

Thanks to all the participants! If you are interested in participating in our next contest, registration is now open!
HOT SUMMER Fortnight Flash Fiction June 10 - 23

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