Texts for the call for entries for the XVI edition of the Radio Lanzarote 2026 Micro-story contest continue to arrive at the editorial offices of La Voz de Lanzarote and Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero. The contest, which began this past July 1st, pays tribute to the Lanzarote painter, essayist, narrator, playwright, and cultural manager Félix Hormiga (1951-2025).
One more year, the Tourist Centers collaborate with the contest, which opens the submission period this Wednesday, July 1, 2026 until August 31, both inclusive.
On this occasion, participants must submit a micro-story that must not exceed 100 words excluding the phrase we will provide below. All stories will have the same title "...And in the afternoon it rained." Based on this title, participants must imagine what happens next.
Each author may send a maximum of five stories, which they may sign with a pseudonym, although they must always indicate a name and a contact telephone number. Likewise, the stories should be sent to the address: concursorelatos@lanzarotemedia.net.
As the stories are received, they will be published in La Voz de Lanzarote. The author's name will not appear in the publication. Only after the verdict will the names of the winning and finalist authors be known.
A jury composed of journalists from Radio Lanzarote and La Voz de Lanzarote will choose three winning stories and seven finalists. The verdict of the contest will be made public in the second half of September.
This year, the original numbering of the texts will be maintained, also taking into account those that have been disqualified. To date, the following texts have been received:
85) ... And in the afternoon it rained. Disqualified 101 words
86) ... And in the afternoon it rained.
I think it was more of an excuse from the sky for us to share an umbrella. I, who hate umbrellas. You insisted that we fit easily, even though my arm was getting soaked with rather questionable elegance.
We laughed because the wind insisted on turning the umbrella inside out every two steps, as if it also wanted to join the conversation.
When we got home, we discovered we were soaked to the bone. We left that stubborn umbrella by the door and, as we laughed at how little it had served, I understood that the best shelter had never been the umbrella. It was you.
87) ... And in the afternoon it rained.
Days of boats arriving at the port, of boats loaded with big-headed fish, of sardines… the sea was full of them. Children in shorts, rolled-up shirts, and snot. Children tanned by the island sun.
My uncle shouts: "Bring the wheelbarrow!"
Everyone ran for the wheelbarrow, my uncle let us fill it with fish.
My aunt prepares them to fry, my uncle Manolo opens them, placing them on the rooftop to dry.
The tides pass. Uncle Antonio returns to the sea. He sends a kiss into the air for it to carry to my aunt.
88) ... And in the afternoon it rained.
Simple perfect past. Indefinite. Past. It doesn't matter what you call it.
The truth is that it already happened. It may happen again, perhaps. But the setting will have changed, the characters too.
The verb tense is volatile, it conjugates with life and they go hand in hand. Sometimes it drags us and tosses us between comings and goings. Wanting to play, we move and jump from memories to illusions in just seconds… and the present?
That afternoon it rained. But what is happening today? Is it raining at this precise and precious moment?
89) ... And in the afternoon it rained.
Yes, in the afternoon I saw it rain and I saw people run, but there you were, like a sweet gift that life sent me, smiling, shouting without words that you were happy, that everything
was in balance.
I approached, trying to keep my smile and my happiness at the same level, and upon hearing your words, I knew that I would never separate from your side, that what we had left to walk would be better than what we had already walked.
You ask me what we are doing this afternoon, and, for an instant, I felt a current envelop me completely. I suppose that's what they call happiness.
90) ... And in the afternoon it rained.
How big the house feels to me! How infinite the bed appears to me at night!
Daggers of hate and contempt came out with force from your hand and crossed my chest in silence. I loved that silence as much as my solitude: Eternal friend of long empty days.
Only the wind and one desire reach me: From tomorrow on, I will dress myself in my pain and I will conquer this day and a thousand more!
But today... How big the house feels to me! And I tell you more: How infinite your trace appears to me in my sadness; in my pain!
91) ... And in the afternoon it rained.
Idaira was playing in the garden while her grandfather read under the pergola.
Sometimes the man would look at the girl with eyes full of affection. She was
his favorite granddaughter and he had confessed it to her, asking her to keep the secret.
When the sky turned leaden and it started to rain, Idaira went to take refuge among the
arms of his grandfather. They remained in silence, embracing, watching the drops fall on the toys scattered on the ground. The grandmother came out of the house and asked: "Why don't you come in?". No one answered. Pure love is not explained with words.
92) ... And it rained in the afternoon.
With humidity in the living room of more than eighty percent, the air was sticky and unhealthy; meanwhile, the lurking rain was making us wait. The curtains were still choked by the passage of time. Only in the patio, Don Ezequiel manipulated the ice cream maker with skill and mastery. He used only natural fruits and crushed ice from the well of sighs, as he called it. With the sun already hidden, it began to rain without prior notice.
- Blessed be God - exclaimed Don Ezequiel, safely extending the ice cream maker...
93) ... And it rained in the afternoon.
Remember? I warned you it was going to rain - he said in a tired tone.
You were right. And yet I decided to go out without an umbrella and without a raincoat... I make very bad decisions, don't I? - the weight of sarcasm crushed any remaining affection in the room.
I don't know if they are good or bad... the truth is that everyone is responsible for the path they choose to take.
He had arrived soaked from head to toe. She, without strength, went up the stairs. This time she lost the habit. Some get tired of warning. Others prefer to keep advancing in their blindness.
94) ... And it rained in the afternoon.
Those were the password words, which the "respectable gossips" of the neighborhood used to disguise themselves if they saw someone approaching, when, sitting on their folding chairs in the cool of the sidewalk, they would rant with fury and without mercy, flaying everything that moved in the town. Those "women behind the curtains," with their viperous tongues as sharp as knives, competed among themselves to see who could invent the most substantial gossip about any neighbor (preferably a female neighbor) without ceasing to smile, trying to maintain a kind appearance. Wicked defamatory grandmothers!
95) ... And it rained in the afternoon.
The cool night and it rained in the afternoon, but it was not a reason for us to stay at the hotel discussing the trip, on Ristz beach in Noja. What's more, we grabbed warm clothes, a sweater and jeans, and Diana, Víctor my son, and the one telling this story, Darío; Diana's father and husband, went out to play a trivial pursuit at the town center café. Everything was fine, until two or three losers insulted us when they saw us playing. So we decided to go to another café with the cool and rainy night, turning our gazes.
96) ... And it rained in the afternoon.
It was the ninth of July, around seven in the afternoon, outside the sun shone through timid gray clouds that spoke of summer rain; and I, lost in my thoughts, lying on my bed, had been unable to prepare something to eat.
I dressed without much care and sat in front of the Puddle at sunset, the cool air caressed my cheeks, momentarily calming my mental chaos.
Thus my days passed since life, that day, tore you from my side.
...And that afternoon it did not rain,
it only rained inside me, and life, as always, continued its path.
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