A Futile Push for Presence (Contest Winner)

Prose by Eva M.

9th-12th GRADE WINNER FOR THE 2023 YOUTH CREATIVE WRITING CONTEST. Prompt: The story must be between 150–300 words, and must include ALL THREE OBJECTS: Birdhouse, glow stick, soap.

Small footsteps go astray from the celebration, echoing through the barren hall, and at last halting to meet the kitchen sink. Glow stick goo adheres to Fingers, as the medicinal scent wafts through innocent Nostrils. Elbows are the unsung hero of Arm, carrying out tasks that weren’t in its job description. Sink water runs over the goo, suds engulfing the stubborn neon substance. Soap slips out of Hands, who also seem to have abandoned us amidst the bodily invasion. Eyes draw upwards through the window, noticing the birdhouse dangling over the porch. Noise is replaced by sound when the birdhouse’s residents waltz in, tweeting a song from their slender beaks. The cacophony of a dripping faucet, happy birthday mumbles, and a creaking step stool are muted in the presence of song. This attention has no quantification, lasting for the eternity of now. The birdhouse sways, as the window is no longer glass, but a lens into revelation. Mind crashes the party, commanding Arms to again clutch the soap, Eyes averted to the stained sink. When Spirit demands presence, the birdhouse is hollow once more.

Comments from our judge: “A Futile Push for Presence” struck me in its experimentalism, especially in its use of capitalization that help that so gracefully (and seemingly simply!) to turn the body parts into characters. From there, imagery flows naturally as the scene of the party plays out, with attention to details that one might pass off as minute, but instead become everything in an incredibly effective way.