Short, but not quite short enough

I finished the first draft of my short story for the Limnisa Short Story Competition 2020. Great work (if I do say so myself), good story, interesting plot twist. Only problem was when I rechecked the entry requirements on the Limnisa site I discovered my story was 1600 words. over the allowed word limit. I tried editing it down but it just lost too much of the feel and the context of the story to make it work. I’ll save it for another competition or publication.

So, I’ve started on a new story for this competition. A very different style and plot, focused on characters and their motivations, no matter how warped. I’m keeping an eagle eye on the word count this time!