THE EVOLUTION OF BIRDS (Ad Hoc Fiction, 2021) Best Small Fictions | Wigleaf Top 50 SmokeLong Mikey, Bath Flash Fiction Award, QuietManDave CNF 2027 NFFD anthology editor sarahillswrites.com 🌵US/UK #FlashFictionhttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3muwmzgvuhc2p"and when I woke up, I told her about it, how real it seemed. Roland Barthes, for Pete’s sake." This is easily one of the best micros of all time. ❤️⚡ Such superb writing from @alimcg.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social [contains quote post or other embedded content]07 Sep 2026 13:39 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3muwmzgvuhc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3muwmg3n4pk2p"In the supply closet of the Paramus Walmart, Jeremy takes out his phone and his father’s credit card and dials 1-800-TITS." "Um, can you put me on with Miranda? he asks, hating how whiny and young he sounds." ❤️🔥 SO much love for this one from @bsherm36.bsky.social in @brightflash1500.bsky.social [contains quote post or other embedded content]07 Sep 2026 13:28 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3muwmg3n4pk2phttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3mumyx63zks2k"I don't want to make this all about feet, but it kind of is." and "I could have bent it with my mind." Brilliant new story from @kathyfish.bsky.social. I love everything about it — the weirdness, the humor, the fact that I can hear the whole thing in her inimitable voice. Perfection! ❤️❤️❤️ [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Sep 2026 17:46 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mumyx63zks2khttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3mszr27owjs24Oooh! Love the sound of this! 😍 Congratulations @tcboudreau.bsky.social. I can't wait to read it!! [contains quote post or other embedded content]14 Aug 2026 08:38 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mszr27owjs24https://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3msvgtymfsk22📌 Editors — I know you care about integrity & I'm sorry to say, but *PLEASE* run your acceptances thru a safe/robust AI-detector like Pangram before publishing. In fact, start w/your latest issue & run each story/poem/essay, esp those from 'reputable' writers. It's disheartening how many are genAI.💔 [contains quote post or other embedded content]12 Aug 2026 15:25 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3msvgtymfsk22https://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3mssnjkapj22x"seven minutes on a street corner against the fishing-line twitch of prior commitments" and "that sharp, strange little question" What a wonder this one is. A great sense of scene and movement, the looping of time and circumstance and heart. Congratulations, Amy Luxton! @welkinpress.bsky.social 🎉❤️ [contains quote post or other embedded content]11 Aug 2026 12:47 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mssnjkapj22xhttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3msof3bycok2e"Why does life always lead to a tree outside a vet’s, a red-eyed couple trying to decide, an old dog sniffing the wind?" Oh my heart. I feel this one so hard. And "banked" - a master class on impactful verbs. Congrats @sfreligh.bsky.social, you star! Sheer brilliance! 🎉❤️ @welkinpress.bsky.social [contains quote post or other embedded content]09 Aug 2026 20:05 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3msof3bycok2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3mslx7hxyys2o"If you want to be a writer, do the thing. If you want to be called an author, write stuff and get it published. Boom. Done. You want to steal and call yourself an artist? Nah, fuck that." THIS!!! I'm so disheartened to see tons of AI slop being published in beloved flash & poetry journals too. 💔 [contains quote post or other embedded content]08 Aug 2026 20:51 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mslx7hxyys2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3msledolap22yThis!!! [contains quote post or other embedded content]08 Aug 2026 15:14 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3msledolap22yhttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3msks7b5q4s2r"So, I walked slow and fragile to the woodland, stood in the centre of their mile-long crater." Oof! What a phenomenal, piece by Jo Withers. Absolute perfection from the arresting title (that comma!) to the final word. Just gorgeously gutting. Congratulations, Jo! 🎉😍 @welkinpress.bsky.social [contains quote post or other embedded content]08 Aug 2026 09:49 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3msks7b5q4s2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3msifb3yrfk2qHuge thanks to Welkin's @mattkendrick.bsky.social & judge @pleomorphic2.bsky.social for choosing my story. 🙏❤️ I'm so delighted that it resonated! In my teens/20s I consumed Whitman's body of work in great gulps trying to understand the world/my place in it. Honestly, I'm still trying. [contains quote post or other embedded content]07 Aug 2026 10:52 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3msifb3yrfk2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3msg757segc2z"Your lungs drink electricity, a metallic sulphurous tang." Wow!! What a stunner! The energy and language of this is incredible, bringing us right to the edge of the storm, waiting for that first thunderous crack. Huge congratulations @tomljanovic.bsky.social! 🎉🎉🎉 @welkinpress.bsky.social [contains quote post or other embedded content]06 Aug 2026 13:57 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3msg757segc2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3msdbgqadzs2v"He regretted how, as she lay on her back on the scaffolding, Heaven saw petticoats and pantaloons he did not." Yes!! So much love for this saucy take on a historical tale. The 'ever less reverend', the apple, the longing—it's perfection @kawalker.bsky.social. 🎉😍 @welkinpress.bsky.social [contains quote post or other embedded content]05 Aug 2026 10:01 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3msdbgqadzs2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3msday4i7ks2v"tendrils wrapping around you like you wanted to wrap around him except he’s in the ground and you’re not" Such palpable grief in this one. I love how nature becomes the surreal embodiment, the comfort. ❤️🎉 @wordsfromemorra.bsky.social in @welkinpress.bsky.social [contains quote post or other embedded content]05 Aug 2026 09:52 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3msday4i7ks2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3ms6mbm4edk2u"Stoic, always stoic—as if the tumor isn’t growing inside her body but sitting politely on the table beside her." Oof! What things we humans carry! The dissociative detachment imparts the perfect touch of lightness in this quietly devastating micro from Rana Bitar in @welkinpress.bsky.social. ❤️🎉 [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Aug 2026 13:31 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3ms6mbm4edk2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3ms6lcak34c2u"the push, the crush, the rip of fabric, baby’s white stockings, heads, hands, the hit, the silence." Oh, the devastation! The movement and emotion, the destructive power of a single word — what a wallop this piece packs! Phenomenal work from @nomad-sw18.bsky.social in @welkinpress.bsky.social ❤️🎉 [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Aug 2026 13:14 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3ms6lcak34c2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3mrzj4qoucc2s"You remember the oaks. The pines. The spark. The heat. The hunger of a violent wind." The poignancy of this one as parts of the world burn is just... oof. The POV, the ending, the sense of devastation. Such a powerful piece! ❤️🎉 @karenc.bsky.social in @welkinpress.bsky.social [contains quote post or other embedded content]01 Aug 2026 12:52 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrzj4qoucc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3mrziean57c2s"You’re [eleven years old]/[forty-five] when you [move]/[return] to your childhood home." I'm completely fascinated with the structure of this one by @thisisguan.bsky.social, how it allows an instantaneous shift in time and interplays with the title is wonderful. 🎉❤️ @welkinpress.bsky.social [contains quote post or other embedded content]01 Aug 2026 12:38 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrziean57c2shttps://bsky.app/profile/sarahillswrites.bsky.social/post/3mrroftcf3k2q"His voice was layered like moist leaves. His theme was fall, you might say." Oof! What a wallop this micro packs! Stunning work from @patriciaqbidar.bsky.social in @matchbooklitmag.bsky.social ⚡ [contains quote post or other embedded content]29 Jul 2026 10:05 +0000at://did:plc:xq5t7v4afm4abhy5vbbcmtkc/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrroftcf3k2q