Flash Fiction
That Old Silk Hat
A microfiction for “On the Premises” Mini-contest #60
The following story was entered for the On the Premises mini-contest for May 2024, which had the theme, “The Hat.”
Premise: “Use between 25 and 50 words to show, tell, or evoke a story in which a hat plays an important role.”
There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found, for when the child placed it on its head, the snowman began to weep:
“Please don’t let me die again! I was once a man — I had a wife — don’t let me melt, I beg of you!”
Most of the fun with a contest like this is condensing a story into so few words. Although I didn’t win this contest, I enjoyed trying my hand at micro-flash, and was very pleased to hear from the judges that they ranked my entry “in the top 10% of the 340 entries that didn’t get published.”
I tip my hat to the winners: you can check out their winning entries here.
I previously entered an On the Premises mini-contest with these stories on the themes, “Eat it,” and “Two Points of View,” respectively.
