Short Stories
The "73 Words in the 732" contest seeks original short stories that contain seventy-three words or fewer. Stories can be on any theme or topic, and a panel of library staff will select the best short stories, which will appear on the library's website.
The contest is open through the month of May every year. All ages are welcome to participate and East Brunswick residency is not required.
New beginning
He was so sweet, this blonde, blue-eyed man who shyly said hello when I first met him. But then he left for America. As I sailed to meet him, I thought about leaving my family. I supposed it could...
Angela Cleaver
The Hole
The Hole by Shikhar Dixit
Jake discovered the hole on Saturday. Behind the recliner, a circular tunnel in sheetrock vanished into shadow.
That night, a sound awoke him:
Was it...
Shikhar Dixit
Magic Mah Jongg
The tiles were moved around in an attempt to scramble the winds, dragons and jokers so a new hand could be played. It was a familiar ritual. There is nothing titillating about the game yet it...
Allisa Perlmutter
Act Two
I sat at my desk waiting for the work day to be over. I had only been at my new job for a few weeks. I felt I needed a career that was more challenging. I had been in the corporate work force...
Deanna Perlmutter-Tarulli
Celebration
My dark ringed eyes open to the stillness of my room. My walls seemed careful, like a child avoiding going to bed, yet they wailed at the calendar; May 15th encircled in bright red ink in a small...
Brielle O'Neill
The Beggar
Daily, I commuted by train to my office in Newark. Standing near the station was a young man begging. He seemed friendly, jovial and talkative. During the next several weeks I would donate my...
Donald Carugati
Rumspringa
Rumshpringa*
Leah was walking Magenta. Suddenly, they saw a golden doodle happily running and jumping across the lawns near his house.
“Duke!”
They ran to him. Duke was off...
Donna Lee Goldberg
At the Maison Hannon (for G. C.)
In just twenty seconds and twenty steps, you’ll fall for her. Because at your request for poetry, she’ll recite to you, from unblemished memory, twelve lines of Dante’s “Inferno” in her native...
Chris Chan
The Hands of My Mother
Freckle-specked skin on the back of her hand with a wedding band and a solitaire diamond. On the fingers before hers, turquoise stones on silver. Before hers, plain gold. The hands of my mothers,...
Kelly Louro
Wanderlust
Destined for cosmos while walking through mud, our minds long to float aloft while hands cling to soil and rock. Once upon a time, we sat at the sea’s edge watching waves with wonder. Now we gaze...
Kelly Louro
Starving Artist
Fear once told me that art was a dangerous road called Starving Artist Way. So, I studied spreadsheets and sent emails instead. Now a phantom haunts the rafters and she is ravenous, clawing...
Kelly Louro
Library Book Escape
A little girl named Susan lived in the countryside and her days were filled with burying her nose in library books. Books were her comfort, escape, and place to dream. With each turn of the page,...