Keep It Simple and Straight Flash Fiction Competition Unveils 10 Stories

The Keep It Simple and Straight Flash Fiction Competition (KSSFFC) has unveiled a longlist of 10 stories in its second edition.

In a statement released and signed by the Co-founder of KSSFFC, Dr Lizi Ben-Iheanacho, the competition aimed to expand literary frontiers and the genres available for honing narrative techniques.

A total of 73 entries were received in this second edition, including contestants from the first edition who clocked up to 108 entries under the theme of love.

“The top three contestants will win N50,000, N30,000, and N20,000, respectively, and this will be announced on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026,” says Ben-Iheanacho.

According to the organisers, fiction writers were asked to write a flash fiction piece of no more than 50 words on the theme of crime, with thematic features of royalty, faith and justice.

The 10 fiction stories are listed in no particular order:

JAS

Every Sunday, he went to church and prayed. But while he was praying, families were going hungry because of the money he stole. He thought his position would protect him. The Senate became his shield. He built a house with money, but he died before enjoying it. The house stayed.

When God Alone Is Your Witness (S. E.)

Nobody believed you when you accused the King of rape. Under oath before God, you told the court your truth. Still, you lost the case. You cried, not for the verdict, but for the only evidence you ever had: the child you’d secretly aborted to protect them from this world.

Minna Miners (AMA)

If you’re caught under the custody of bandits, you’re not safe. If you’re under security custody, it’s still not safe. Death is liable either way. Story of the city of Minna and 37 miners, including some minors. Make that make sense. A city boiling in the cauldron of injustice.

IMN

Rain poured from the clouds above the weary eyes of people beneath the folds of despair, a crown of clay, drenched in the sorrows of the downtrodden. Has justice lost its tongue? Uncertainty, woven by the loom of looting. Hands raised to the heavens, asking, “Why?”

The Riverside Girl (JOO)

Peremo hears what no one else hears: the fishes crying. While villagers pray for its dying waters, she slips away to the shore. There, she sees the king’s son poison the river. Oil merchants want the villagers’ land. Peremo returns with proof. The king finally hears her. Then justice follows.

MIE

The Ifa priest cast the Opele thrice. And each time, he saw the murderer’s name.

“Who is it?” King Adeyemi asked. “Kabiyesi,” the priest said, bowing low, “You know who it is. The gods have merely confirmed it.” The king sighed deeply and ordered the guards to arrest Prince Dejumo.

ROI

During Ramadan, the Emir gave his dates to a beggar as alms. The beggar ate a few and grimaced. “Your highness, these taste bitter,” he complained. The Emir became alert. Bitter dates? The beggar died the next minute. By dawn, the Waziri and two palace guards were executed after confessing.

ATO

The church sat silent as the pastor invoked curses on whoever stole the offering box. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, baffled by his outrage. The wooden box was explicitly labelled “Money for the Poor.” Seeing as that perfectly described my financial situation, I had simply taken it.

The Crown Rejects (AAO)

Jide stabbed the king in his sleep. By dawn, he stood ready to be crowned king. He lifted the crown. It burned his palms and fell to the ground.

The priest whispered, “The crown knows its blood.”

His mother faced him and said, “The king was never your father.”

Heaven Keeps Books (AKP)

Pastor Adeyemi weighed the envelope against his conscience, and conscience lost. Chief Balogun’s offering still wore the Treasury’s blue band, stamped ‘FEDERAL RESERVE VAULT, ABUJA.’ He knew whose money this was. He smiled and said, “God bless your campaign,” as he tucked it beneath the pulpit. Heaven keeps books, too.

KSSFFC was co-founded in early 2026 by CP Emma Ojukwu, Amb. Ifeoma Chinwuba and Dr Lizi Ben Iheanacho, three individuals driven by the desire to contribute to expanding literary frontiers and the genres available for honing narrative techniques.

Ojukwu is an author and a former chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Abuja Chapter. Chinwuba is also an author, poet, and literary stakeholder, while Ben-Iheanacho is an author, critic, and literary prize administrator.

“Flash fiction improves the ability to deliver intense emotional impact and sharp narrative arcs,” the co-founders stated. “It also transforms reading and writing into a concentrated collaborative form.”