Short story contest #45 launched on Sunday, January 5, 2025. Its premise is
 

SOMEWHERE ELSE

For this contest, write a creative, compelling, well-crafted story between 1,000 and 5,000 words long in which someone or something important to the story is not where it/they always have been, or where it/they would be expected to be located, or is in the process of changing their location from where it/they have always been. The distance someone or something has moved (or is moving) is not important, but the change in location must be important to the story. Whether this new location is an improvement or a problem is up to you.

GENRE RULES: No fiction aimed at readers younger than 12, no exploitative sex, no over-the-top grossout horror, and no stories that are obvious parodies of (or other uses of) well-known fictional worlds/characters created by other authors. (So, no "fan fiction".) Other than that, we'll take anything from the most super-realistic literary drama to crazy farces (real-world or otherwise) to any variant of science fiction or fantasy you can imagine. Read our past issues and you'll see.

DEADLINE: 11:59 PM Eastern Time, Friday, March 28, 2025

On The Premises magazine accepts submissions in the following formats only: Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx), Rich Text Format (.rtf), plain text (.txt), and OpenOffice/NeoOffice (.odt). If you have any questions, please write to Questions@OnThePremises.com. Thanks!