WINNER of Friday flash Fiction competition announced

Reading author Joy Essien has won the 2015 Friday Flash Fiction competition sponsored by Comely Bank Publishing. Joy currently works in the health sector but has a considerable background in news reporting and scriptwriting. The judges felt that Joy's winning entry (which you can read to the right) was particularly successful in capturing the spirit of the "World In Union" theme.

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A soldier's christmas
Joy Essien

Tired and wistful soldiers in the truck shifted uncomfortably. Batira saw the passing landscape. “Oh, the beauties of home,” he thought. Then his mind moved to Semira, the girl soldier he’d met. He recalled her softness. Shutting his eyes, he tried to block the memory. Semira broke the rules. She loved the enemy and that love ended her life.

​The truck slowed down, ending his reverie. He felt his colleagues’ excitement as they prepared to disembark. He felt numb and listless. How would he face his wife, Maria, knowing that his heart was gone forever to a dead rebel soldier?