Vol. 1 — The Price to Witness
Write a story about a secret kept
The Rules
- Maximum 1,500 words
- Fiction only — any genre welcome
- One story per entry — multiple entries permitted
- Previously unpublished work only
- Submissions close at midnight on the last day of the month, EST
The Prizes
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1st | $200 |
| 2nd | $100 |
| 3rd | $50 |
All entries receive detailed feedback on craft, structure, and voice.
Winners are published on The Quarry and included in our annual anthology — available in print.
The Prompt
Write a story about a secret kept.
This month's prompt lives inside the annual theme — The Price to Witness — which explores the value scale of Bystander → Participant. Stories can approach this from any angle: complicity, silence, the cost of looking away. We ask one question of every entry: did something shift?