Winning Stories
The Eleventh Playground Challenge - October 2025
1st Place
“The Whole Mosquito” by Louise Walton
Kempsey, NSW, Australia
A frustrated teen spends summer holidays at his grandparents’ vineyard while his parents try to work on their marriage. Personalities clash in this Australian coming of age tale.
2nd Place
“Holding Pattern” by Corrie Haldane
Holland Landing, ON, Canada
Follow Corrie: Website
When 14-year-old Ivy learns she’s moving, she retreats to her childhood treehouse to work through her complicated feelings about her mom, her dad, and what it means to let go.
3rd Place
“The Hothouse” by Natalie Minaker
Worcestershire, UK
Follow Natalie: Website
Fifteen-year-old Sophia retreats to her childhood treehouse as she grapples with the weight of expectation and a future slipping beyond her control.
4th Place
“A Short Story in Four Movements” by Ryan N. Wolf
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Follow Ryan: Website
A composing prodigy realizes during the premiere of his latest work that there may be more to life than music.
5th Place
“Resin” by Liana Caulfield
New York, NY, USA
A former child star in treatment for her ED grapples with the roles she’s been forced to perform—on television, in recovery, and throughout the suffocating theater of teenage girlhood.
6th Place
“A.L. (Alternative Life)” by Karen Mitani
Brooklyn, NY, USA
If you could live an alternative life, what would you want the most?
7th Place
“The Forgetting” by Rosie Bannerman
Adelaide, South Australia
Follow Rosie: Substack
A birthday celebration for Alison’s son is shadowed by concern for her father.
8th Place
“Watatime At Camp Wataxche!” by Molly Blunden
Orinda, CA, USA
Two teenagers from a distant solar system travel to Earth in an effort to study adolescent behavior during a summer session at Camp Wataxche.
9th Place
“Forever Amber” by Charles Sayers
Atlanta, GA, USA
Follow Charles: Website
Fleeing through the Maurepas Swamp, a fugitive finds refuge in a child’s treehouse above the floodline. But in a land where nothing stays bound and buried, shelter comes with a price.
10th Place
“Wanderer” by Ashley Evans
Bethlehem, NH, USA
Follow Ashley: Website
An unexpected visitor in her garden has Cordelia questioning everything.
Honorable Mentions:
“From Death Comes Life” by Drew M
Tampa, FL, USA
A Frenchman returns from World War II, broken in body and spirit. Can a dead seed reverse the cycle of grief and misfortune that consumes his family?
“Sitting Still” by Sarah Nelle
Richmond, VA, USA
Follow Sarah: Instagram
When Kate is laid off, she takes the first job she can find: a care attendant at Shady Grove Rehabilitation. Through her relationships with the residents and staff, Kate learns to find beauty in the small, still moments.
“Out of the Ashes” by Kelly McLean
Aurora, ON, Canada
A woman struggles to come to terms with a traumatic event from her past by going back to the scene of the event and reliving her memories. Although she has tried in vain for years to find redemption, the stakes are higher than ever and she needs to find a way to move on.
“Frozen in Time” by Judy Schaefer
Chester, MD, USA
Grappling with grief, shame, and guilt in the aftermath of a devastating accident, teenage Lacey spends a solitary afternoon reckoning with the irrevocable changes that have shaped her summer and the collapse of the future she so carefully planned.
“Wings and Things” by Dana Starr
Ransom Canyon, TX, USA
Follow Dana: Website
Summer of '92 was a tough time for thirteen-year-old Brittany. That's when she met a girl and a woman who helped her change her life for the better.
“Fort Festung” by Amber Kolodin
Laurel, MD, USA
Follow Amber: Instagram or TikTok
Having escaped hell on earth, Max finds himself at the mercy of a young child. One that could be his savior or send him straight back into the arms of the devil.
“Unspoken” by Robin Wesley
Temecula, CA, USA
Follow Robin: Website
A Drag Queen returns home to come to terms with his father's death.
“Bee Song” by Cecilia Maddison
London, UK
Follow Cecilia: Instagram or Website
Summer camp proves challenging for Milda, who must confront both her grief and the child who is bullying her.
“Ambre doré” by Annette Whitehorn
Baulkham Hills, Australia
Esmé, a grieving widow, struggles with the challenges of old age. Following a serious accident, she faces a family intervention.
“A Little Bit of Magic” by Kevin Saito
Long Beach, CA, USA
Struggling with their own grief, two parents attempt to find a way through their pain and a way to move forward in the unlikeliest of ways.
Tenth Challenge Winning Stories - May 2025
Ninth Challenge Winning Stories - November 2024
Eighth Challenge Winning Stories - May 2024
Seventh Challenge Winning Stories - January 2024
Sixth Challenge Winning Stories - May 2023
Fifth Challenge Winning Stories - December 2022
One-Year Anniversary Challenge Winning Stories - July 2022
Third Challenge Winning Stories - March 2022
Classic Short Stories
“Sonny’s Blues” - by James Baldwin (1957)
“The Yellow Wallpaper” - by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892)
“The Storm” - by Kate Chopin (1898)
“Babylon Revisited” - by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1931)
“The Cask of Amontillado” - by Edgar Allen Poe (1846)
The websites linked above are not affiliated with Writers' Playground, LLC. We thank them for sharing these beautiful classic tales.