Second Place Winner 2026 Gooseberry Pie Writing Competition
by Louella Lester
You fall into a medicated sleep, when the moon is still a circle of light through the open window, so you have no idea. It starts with a wisp of breeze, a muffled droplet here and there, then the note you left for them loses balance, flutters from desk to chair; a scarf slides its hanger, drapes over shoes; a book listing on a shelf gives up, tips over to lie on its side. You snore through the growing bluster that whips a curtain until it pulls down its own rod, tips dying houseplants to domino along the windowsill, thumps stacks of damp files over to pool on the floor. You flip from stomach to back, even a rain soaked squall unable to wake you. A bottle of shampoo slips, crashes into the tub, taking the conditioner and body wash with it; canned goods drop and roll off kitchen counters; a flurry of dishes clank against the cabinet’s glass door. Much later, it’s the morning’s silence that drags you awake.
Louella Lester is a writer/photographer in Winnipeg, Canada, author of the CNF flash book Glass Bricks (At Bay Press 2021), contributing editor at New Flash Fiction Review, and is included in Best Microfiction 2024 and 2026.
Photo by Griffin Wooldridge on Unsplash
