The Winner was Val Ormrod
This story is unavailable at the moment
Runner up Ben
September 2025
The winner was Penny Kerr
here is her story:
WHISPERS
Memories sneak up behind you, tap your shoulder and turn you on the spot.
A pot of basil.
You’re back in Spain, staring across a table into loving eyes again.
A snatch of song.
Clad in denim and platforms, days are mad, young and long.
New love warms you through like sun.
Petrichor, the perfume of hot rain.
You’re striding pavements spattered with drops.
A bus stops, and he dismounts, but with another.
The foul breath of diesel smothers your heart.
As if it mattered.
You saw it coming from the start.
You were warned by whispers.
If only you’d listened and spared yourself sorrow.
You ran from the whispers,
But they follow you still.