IndieWeb Fiction Carnival: May 2026 Roundup
Back in May, I signed up to host the IndieWeb Fiction Carnival, and kicked it off with a prompt: sticks and stones will break my bones.
I'm incredibly late with my roundup: just as soon as I'd kicked it off, life became chaotic in a way that won't settle down until September. Which is a poor excuse, because I received some great submissions.
The first chamber was larger than the second. Wren heard and felt the pneumatic doors close behind them and was careful to place one foot next to the other, in a stable stance, and took hold of the handrails. They felt their boots lock onto the walkway. The loud, mechanical horn blared its single warning and clouds of thin white mist filled the room. Wren stared straight ahead but could see in the peripheral vision possible through their helmet’s visor the particles cling to their suit. In seconds they covered the visor as well.
Zachary Kai wrote Tear Me Down, Build Me Back Up:
They repeated the usual version of this phrase, turned on him in the second person, until it became so pervasive they might've well have tattooed it on the insides of his eyelids.
Being a young lady in the neighborhood. One of the elderly man came around one day towards Lara and asked when is she getting hitched? Flabbergasted by his question - she said she won't be getting married and then this oldie guy got on her nerves by saying that a young lady is a BURDEN on the family and getting married removes that burden.
Also syndicated to IndieNews.
IndieWeb Fiction Carnival: May 2026
This month's prompt is "sticks and stones will break my bones".
This is the IndieWeb Fiction Carnival call for submissions for May, 2026. Everybody is welcome to participate.
I'm a long-term member of the indieweb community, and a speculative fiction writer, so I was delighted to see the IndieWeb Fiction Carnival appear. Previous prompts include platonic soulmates (for which I entered my story Sharing is Caring), silvered eyes, and we've got to dream past it.
This month, I've signed up to host.
Prompt
This month's prompt is sticks and stones will break my bones.
The old rhyme dates back to at least 1830:
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But words will never hurt me.
Use this prompt however you like. Perhaps your protagonist has to learn to be impervious to a bully. Maybe it's ironic and words are more powerful than they appear. Or something else entirely might be going on.
I'm excited to read what you come up with.
Submissions
The carnival is open to anybody.
To submit a story, you first need to write or create any kind of fiction that responds to the prompt in a way that makes sense to you. Then, publish it openly on an independent website that you control.
Once you've done that, either:
- Email me the link at ben@werd.io.
- Send a webmention to this page.
Your deadline is midnight on May 31, in whatever your local timezone is.
I'll post a roundup during the first week of June.
Happy writing!
