Fernando A. Flores, guest judge for our 2019 short story contest, says his favorite stories are those that “take some kind of risk, strive for something greater, unknown, undefined, and afterward leave you lost in the woods of what you read.”
That’s certainly true of “Liquid Gold” by Shannon Perri, the first of three contest finalists (plus the winner) we’ll be publishing in the coming weeks. This startling story imagines that a new mother, unable to pay the hospital bill for her son’s birth, must instead settle her debt in a bodily way. Like parenthood itself, the story contains both incredible highs and devastating lows. After the story, Perri shares a few thoughts about the inspiration for “Liquid Gold.”
