Schaumburg Township District Library Announces Flash Fiction Winners

Winners of the Flash Fiction contest at the Schaumburg Township District Library will have their works placed in a book to be catalogued and available to library visitors, according to Susan Gibberman, Flash Fiction coordinator and head of Reader Services. Stories will include those written by first-place winner A. Nicole Cooper, second-place winner Bob Burnham and third-place winner Susie Kline. Before announcing the three winners, an anonymous editor whittled down the entries to five finalists, saying she was "very pleased and impressed" with the quality of writing. Stories entered in the Flash Fiction contest had to be original and fewer than 1,000 words.

The first place entry, "Just Say," features a world-weary young woman living in a futuristic society in which people are bombarded by multi-media advertisements 24/7, and must pay by the minute for the precious gift of silence. The runner-up, "Peace and Quiet," introduces a book-loving demon who seeks the tranquility of an earthly library to rest his soul in a surprising reading selection. In third place is "Heaven," a charming re-imagining of Heaven as an after-hours library where ghostly angels welcome a new member to their ranks.

All three stories are published on the library's website at www.schaumburglibrary.org/readers/flash-fiction.