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.
The Conversation
""I was sorry to hear about your wife's passing.""
""It's still hard for me to realize she's gone.""
""I was lost when my husband died.""
""How long ago did he die?""
""A...
Lily Frances
Dreaming in Deli
I dreamed that I was in an intensive care unit. I heard the doctor say “We are running out of treatments”. “Although this is still an experimental therapy, perhaps an egg cream infusion using an...
M'EL
4,378
I always believed time travel existed and I was on a mission to prove it. I was finally ready to test my invention and stay in my youth forever. I fired it up, loud noises and explosions of light...
Christina Shaker
Beat the Odds
Emily was walking briskly, enjoying the rare morning sun on her face. The smile on her face was genuine. Her little shop with books from all around the world was finally doing well. The quaint...
Priti Kandlur
Rewrite the Darling
Little Bear cornered her forever nemesis on the slick of a clean page. She was tired of their humdrum ending. Her violated bed, stolen porridge, and busted up chair never led to a fairy tale...
T Gilbert
My Vision Was Less Than 20/20
My Vision Was Less Than 20/20 – By Earl Best
Born in 1947 to two native New Yorkers. I attended PS 197 starting in fourth grade when it opened. I never knew my eyesight was below par until...
William Best
Earth2
USS Encounter’s four man crew had two woman astronauts. Encounter launched from Cape Canaveral. No sooner had acceleration reached 1/3 lightspeed, than they had to begin deceleration burn. The...
Shikhar Dixit
Bridge
It was a bridge to everything, and no one could see it but me. I was unlocked. Hell, the game changed, once I saw myself the way my teacher saw me. It’s like I didn’t have glasses for sixteen...
Amanda Visokay
Terror and Reprieve
On the morning after the day everything changed, I woke up before my alarm. I let the steady waves of panic wash over me as I took deep breaths and realized I wouldn't fall back asleep. I told...
Shelly Rzewuski
What was so wrong with me now?
Once I remember my father saying how he missed me as a little kid. I had felt insulted. Now, I often think back to this comment. I love my much younger sisters, now in their twenties, but I too...
Shelly Rzewuski
Elevator Memoir-1955
Elevator memoir 1955
No Lackawanna train Fridays.
Instead, Mommy drives from Orange to Newark to pick up Daddy at his office.
Parked, we run to the elevator bank, press the...
Donna Lee Goldberg
My Friend
She was beautiful and kind the way you want your friends to be. We were inseparable. I followed her everywhere. I used to think that she was an angel sent to be my friend.
“Then where are my...