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Shortlisted Story
Chances Are
John Brantingham
A restrained and emotionally precise story where chance and absence quietly accumulate weight.
Flash Friday Competition
The Odds Are In — Stories of Chance, Prediction, and Uncertainty
The competition is now closed. From over 200 anonymous submissions, five stories were shortlisted. Thank you to everyone who read, shared, and took part in the public vote.
On the theme
This issue started with a simple observation: more and more of life is being framed in terms of odds.
Platforms have emerged where people can speculate on outcomes — elections, events, public moments — turning uncertainty into something that looks measurable, even controllable. Whether you engage with them or not, that way of thinking has started to seep into everyday language.
But literature has always been here already. Long before any system tried to price the future, stories were asking what it means to act without certainty — to make decisions, to take risks, to live with what can’t be known in advance.
The five stories in this shortlist approach that question from very different directions: through memory, through systems, through time, and through the small, often invisible calculations people make every day.
One of these stories, Chances Are by John Brantingham, holds that uncertainty with particular care — not as something to resolve, but as something to live with.
What happens next
Voting has now closed, and we’re reviewing the final result. The Readers’ Choice winner will be announced shortly.
The shortlisted writers will also feed into Future Archives London on 28 May, where the competition will continue into a live evening of readings and discussion.
The Shortlist
Shortlisted Story
Perishables
Jeffrey-Michael Kane
A return counter exchange becomes a sharp study in dignity, pressure, and everyday economics.
Shortlisted Story
Doña Yola’s Algorithm
Claudio Navarro
A socially alert story about prediction, authority, and the systems that quietly shape behaviour.
Shortlisted Story
Six Months More
Gull Dita
A near-future premise where time becomes transactional — and deeply human.
Shortlisted Story
AKALA AKA
Anselme Eme
A bold reflection on interpretation, public meaning, and collective belief.
Results Pending
The public vote is now closed. Thank you to everyone who read the shortlist and took part.
We’re reviewing the final result now and will announce the Readers’ Choice winner shortly.
In the meantime, all five shortlisted stories remain available to read.
London Reading & Discussion
Shortlisted writers will feature as part of Future Archives London on 28 May, in a live evening of readings and discussion.