Short Story Contest
We are thrilled to announce the Short List for Cahava's Short Story Contest.
Hannan Khan
"Savan Falls for Everyone" by Hannan Khan
In Avarpur, Śāvan doesn’t fall — it replaces. It replaces land with water, names with silence, certainty with drift. As the village sinks, Jahan and Zella struggle to hold onto home, love, and their child. They must choose what to save and what the water will claim.
"Cubbyholes" by Neil Jacobs
Set in 90s Northern England on Valentine's Day, Danny, a gay, working-class student, tries to leave a rose for a girl he doesn't want, while longing for a boy he can't have. Moving between present and memory, the story builds to a moment where a singlephrase collapses everything he's tried to leave behind.
Neil Jacobs
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neilrjacobs/
"I Don't Know What You Mean When You Say, "I'm Happy" by Andrew Jones
Carol really only wants her husband, Chandler, to take the trash out. But marriage requires difficult adjustments, and Chandler may not be ready.
Andrew Jones
"The Theory of Singing Trees" by Súnmisọ́lá Olúdé.
A young boy struggling with his mental health, and the dangerous reality of societal stigma, finds his path to healing after he stumbles on his long estranged mother during his quest for freedom
Súnmisọ́lá Olúdé
"The Orchid Remembers" by Layla Sabourian
Navid, a botanist living in southern Spain, discovers an impossible orchid growing near Ojén. It shouldn’t exist there—wrong soil, wrong climate—but it matches a species he once studied in Iran. He begins to suspect the plant is carrying something beyond biology: a kind of memory embedded in the earth itself.
