Shortlist – 2026 Gooseberry Pie Annual Writing Competition
by Gretta Trafficante
Stomach gurgling, Blue holds the yogurt container up, lets the decrepitness catch the light — its layer of bloat, its teasing curdle, its promise of ruin. Blue takes the plunge: on their tongue the sourness is rich, and their mouth tastes like alarm. Hours later that same mouth chastises Blue, makes them expel over the toilet bowl until it seems even their breath might leave them. Fingers gripping porcelain, tongue sliding bile and the taste of decay up and down their throat, they are the embodiment of erroneous judgement. Blue takes comfort, their experiment proved correct: sick as they are, they will make it through the day. They can swallow down bad decisions and survive it.
Gretta Trafficante’s work can be found in The Pinch, The Rumpus, Cleaver Magazine, and Lunch Ticket. Gretta is the recipient of the 56th New Millennium Flash Fiction Prize and Columbia University’s Brownstein Writing Award. Find them on X: @G_Trafficante.
