Shallows
By Nic Mira “Shallows” was selected as the finalist of the 2022 Byte Shorts Showcase. A lone, late gull swoops across the departing boat’s wake, the oarsman standing at the stern and pushing against…
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Payback
By Laurence Kershook “Payback” was selected as the finalist of the 2022 Byte Shorts Showcase. Watch the live reading. https://bytethebook.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/LKershook-reading.mp4 I clearl…
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Holding In The Light
by Helen Bell “Holding In The Light” was selected as the finalist of the 2022 Byte Shorts Showcase. Ash’s family perched around his bed, looking horribly like vultures. I stood, at the back of the ro…
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French Mustard
by Sarah Bedwell “French Mustard” was selected as the winner of the 2022 Byte Shorts Showcase. ‘It’s nobbut shite in a jar. What’s tha be wanting that for?’ ‘Our Marilyn likes it. She had it w…
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Byte Shorts Showcase: Too Straight by Justin Gibbons
The General was known as being a hard man. Tough as they come. He wore no expression and said little. His hands looked like old walls, chipped and grooved. When he walked, what was beneath him gave up…
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Byte Shorts Showcase: The Reunion by Catherine Evans
Finally. Time to go. Steve couldn’t believe he’d managed to wangle this trip. He’d get to Heathrow with at least an hour to spare. He and Linda could have a couple of drinks before boarding, then…
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Byte Shorts Showcase: Miss Higginbottom, by Catherine Evans
Mis Higginbottom, by Catherine Evans Miss Higginbottom had been games mistress at Highbridge School for Girls for twenty-seven years. Sundays aside, she was never seen in anything other than a navy tr…
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Byte Shorts Showcase: The Glass of Water on the Table, by Toby Litt
In the spirit of all things Byte Confluence our short story this month is by the brilliant Toby Litt. Toby will be speaking at Byte Confluence, our conference on the business of storytelling on 19th M…
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Byte Shorts Showcase: The Right Place & Be Careful Where You Tread, by Rosamund Davies
These two micro-stories are from the book Story Cities. A City Guide for the Imagination, published by Arachne Press, conceived and co-edited by Rosamund Davies. The book features over 40 writers in a…
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Byte Shorts Showcase: The Pool by Rachel Mann
The Pool The Lifeguard The lifeguard sits in the chair ten feet above the pool deck, a whistle around her neck. Her shift is two hours long. There are nine people in the pool: one in the fast lane, th…
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The School: Homage to Barthelme by Paul Blaney
Once a year, the last week of classes, the kids get to try out a special power for the day. We all look forward to it, us teachers too. It’s the highlight of the semester. The kids can’t choose just a…
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Byte Shorts: The Hammer by Rebekah Latin-Rawstrone
The weight of the hammer is satisfying. ‘Help me with the fence,’ Mother had said. ‘Get the big hammer in the shed.’ Such a heavy lump of metal, smelted and beaten into shape. The muddy black colour o…
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Byte Shorts Showcase: Selkie by Sarah Tinsley
The honeymoon was a time to celebrate the sweetness of your connection. Aunt Harriet’s card had a real clover stuck on the front, an extra leaf drawn on in pencil. There was a large pile of them, all…
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Byte Shorts Showcase: Galvanise Gloss by Kavita A. Jindal
What if there has been no turning point in your life for twenty-two years? You wait for something to spur you into a change. There have been fluctuations, and movement, but no critical moments. Never…
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Byte Shorts Showcase: Things Fall Apart by Paul Blaney
Things began to fall apart: sudden, unforeseen disintegrations that were frankly alarming. It began on the top, that’s to say the third floor, which is where I have my office. The first thing that wen…
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Byte Shorts Showcase: Exposure by Rachel Mann
Exposure I knew it was wrong. I did it anyway. His breath on my neck, his sweat on my torso. Just when we were supposed to stay the fuck apart, we drew together, under the sway of a gravitational pull…
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Byte Shorts Showcase: Covid In Brixton by Amelia B. Kyazze
COVID in Brixton Jess picked at her teriyaki noodles. They were a bit too dry. She’d made them so many times in these 12 days of isolation, she should know better. But after the first week, she was cl…
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Byte Shorts Showcase: Love in the Time of Coronovirus by Perri Lister
Have you ever been told such a huge and dreadful lie, so all encompassing, so monstrous that it takes form and swallows you whole like the whale in Moby Dick. You are somehow still alive in the foul s…
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Byte Shorts: 2019 Competition Winner
Congratulations to Tracey Sinclair for winning the Byte Shorts 2019 Competition with her story ‘War of Words’ (click on the link to read her winning story). She received a £50 Amazon token as her priz…
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Over the Sand Dunes by Rebekah Lattin-Rawstrone (Winner of July Byte Shorts Showcase)
It was a hot day in Egypt. The dry heat left every fold of skin sticky with sweat. My body was heavy, my abdomen swollen with blood. It was my time of the month and I could taste the iron in my saliva…
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