Honorable Mention – Flash 405, August 2020: “Invented Language”
Experimental Fiction
Earth is the center of the universe. Astronomers disagree, but every child must put a brave finger on the stove to truly understand.
Earth believes in itself. The laws of physics bow down to the power of irrational thought. Justification lets a murderer forget. People are murderers. They kill Earth by destroying each other. But Earth grew them from a petri dish called the universe, and will never give up.
The first hypothesis that said Earth wasn’t the center of the universe came in the third century. Earth was devastated; it was no longer the root of human hearts. They had grown up and moved on—to the sun, the Milky Way, nothing at all. But if Earth can turn chemical soup into thinkers, it can do anything.
The universe believes in itself. It knows where its center is, hidden in a place telescopes cannot reach. For telescopes cannot look backwards.
Judge’s Comments:
Vascular Organ depicts a delightful, personified, ego-wounded earth. This other-world was a joy to read.
Clara Mendoza is a high school student and medical marvel who proves you can indeed survive on five hours of sleep a night. When she is not writing or debating in Mock Trial, she can be found working on her school’s literary magazine, The Phoenix, or choosing wacky prompts for the Creative Writing Club.
Photo credit: Michael Dziedzic