The short story "Broken Sandals" has become the winner of the Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero literary contest. Its author, who competed under the pseudonym "Candelaria", although her real name is María del Pilar Bethencourt Campodarve, has prevailed over the more than 110 short stories that have been submitted to this contest. The winner will be able to enjoy a dinner for two at the Amura restaurant, in Puerto del Carmen.
The jury, made up of journalists from Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero and La Voz de Lanzarote, has awarded the second prize to the short story "Exclusiva", by Eva Rosario Navarro González, who competed under the pseudonym "Dúo". Her prize will consist of four laser hair removal sessions, at the S&O Clinic in Arrecife, located on Gómez Ulla street.
The third prize went to "Mascota", by José Aldeguer Roget, who also preferred to compete under a pseudonym, in this case, "sea breeze marinated with aromas of petroleum". This author will be able to relax in a spa circuit with the person of their choice at the Spa Talasoterapia Hotel Costa Calero. The three winners will be able to collect their prizes starting next week.
Seven finalists
In addition to the winners, the jury has chosen seven finalists in the following order: "Not even me", by Paula Lorena Iurman; "Specters", by Ana Serna Quesada; "La Quiniela", by Manuel Concepción; "Slip", by Ginés Vera; "I'll see you soon", by Mar Arias Couce; "Empathy", by Nerea Rodríguez Luis, and "Promise", by Rosario González.
In the fourth edition of this contest, more than 110 short stories have been received, which had to meet several conditions, such as having a maximum of 100 words and including a story of fear or terror, in which the radio also intervenes.
Each author could submit a maximum of five short stories, which could be signed with a pseudonym, although the author's name and a contact telephone number had to be attached. The stories have been published in La Voz de Lanzarote, in strict order of reception, and have also been read in the "Reading on the Radio" space, on Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero, on Mondays at 12:00.
The winning stories
First prize: Broken sandals
Author: María del Pilar Bethencourt Campodarve
"Melancholy invaded her soul, she didn't feel capable of lifting her gaze. Broken sandals gnawed by time, which were punished relentlessly. Pain in her heart and tears in her sad eyes. The soft murmur of a radio that no one listens to invaded her home. She trembles, it's coming, her lower lip throbs, the lock on the door screams, her heart also screams. A word out of time, a silence, anything makes it explode. There is no escape, she cries.
The noise explodes...now the silence. Pain and humiliation.
The radio keeps playing, that unknown voice that knows nothing."
Second prize: Exclusive
Author: Eva Rosario Navarro González
"She put on her headphones, turned on the ISDN and went live, on the national news. She, with a modulated and perfect voice, the one that had made her so famous on the airwaves, gave the scoop of the year.
She began as always: "Good afternoon, from Lanzarote, where a well-known pedophile has been murdered..." When she finished, she turned off the station and waited for the police. The scoop had cost her years of investigation and her managerial position in Madrid. She didn't regret it. Finally, she could mourn her only daughter, her little girl."
Third prize: Pet
Author: José Aldeguer Roget
"I'm handcuffed to the headboard of my bed. Mom, Dad and the bastards who tried to rob us are dead all over the house... On the first day at least I could hear the radio in the living room.
The emptiness I feel in my stomach is at the same time hunger, cold and anguish. But the worst thing is to fear the being I have loved the most, my dog Lassie, I haven't seen her since the first day.
I hear her moan all night. I want to and am afraid to see her. I hear her footsteps, her growls...I don't know if she has eaten anyone yet, but I know she is hungry."
The finalist stories
Not even me
Author: Paula Lorena Iurman
"My successful voice encloses a past that I prefer to forget. First in audience, the ranking does not hide this agony that already weighs too much on me. Greetings, messages, comments, news and musical intervals pass through me like invisible bullets that can no longer open more wounds since that episode that marked my life forever. Hidden in a pseudonym people embrace me. Hidden in my name I no longer know who I am, if I am anyone since that time my body woke up from that pool of blood, between cries of pain that still haunt me."
Specters
Author: Ana Serna Quesada
"Her great-grandmother has been frightened out of her sleep. She thinks she has heard her wandering around the house. She hears the clock strike three in the bell clock and a song plays on the radio. However, it is strange, since neither of them has worked since the death of the patriarch. She follows her through the dark patio. In her deceased great-grandmother's room, the radio emits a bolero that a familiar and elderly voice hums. It smells of smoke and tobacco. Now she can see them and a deafening scream floods the room. They gesticulate and shake her desperately as if saying: Get away! Come back!"
The Quiniela
Author: Manuel Concepción
"I walked a dark stretch to the neighbor's house. He had the radio on.
? What do I owe the honor to, little princess?
?My mother wants the lottery, sir.
?Come in. They're giving it now.
He turned up the radio, squeezed me and kissed me. I screamed, but the voices of the waves "Caudillo, swamp, Fanfani, mafia, Kennedy, Luther King, pregnant black woman, Balduino, X, Sporting, two, Betis, one, Osasuna" were louder than mine. I bit him, but I couldn't break free from his claws.
?Here you have it, mother. The Indautxu-Logroñés is missing, suspended. Kill that disgusting man! I cried.
?My daughter, poor girls have to know how to forget."
Slip
Author: Ginés Vera
"I heard music in the background, my favorite radio program encouraged me to open my eyes. I did it slowly, overcoming the heaviness and itching. I tried to move my head, my arms; for some reason my body didn't obey me. Then I heard two voices, one demanding the other to turn off the radio. When the silence came I saw two figures in gowns and masks. Poor thing, said one. It's the law of life, replied the other. What's going on? What are they going to do to me?... No sound came out of my mouth. The last thing I remember was: Let's finish this autopsy once and for all."
I'll see you soon
Author: Mar Arias Couce
"She had cried so much for his loss that when she heard his voice through the radio, she couldn't believe it. A brutal accident had torn him from her life three years ago, leaving her alone. With nothing. Now, so long afterwards, she heard his unmistakable voice again. "I'll see you soon." Only three words.
It was his voice that had sounded over Julia Otero's. It was his voice and he was addressing her. The fear turned into tears of hope. The next day, when they found her cold corpse on the bed, her eyes were still full of tears."
Empathy
Author: Nerea Rodríguez Luis
"According to reports, one of the survivors of the latest massacre in Boston has described the criminal as a middle-aged man, burly, tall and with a gloomy face." Those words came from the radio station that Tom had selected at that moment. He didn't pay too much attention to the news. He, however, remained wrapped up in his thoughts.
-You will never understand the victims if you have never been one of them- a voice said behind him
Before he could turn around, a dagger sank into his neck, tearing it as the blood descended."
Promise
Author: Rosario González
"Keep your promise when you hear the news." The note had arrived that morning. It was not signed, it was not necessary. The news had broken a few hours later on Radio Lanzarote: "Pedro Lucciano, the great surrealist painter, has died."
Tired and furious, she checked that she was the first to arrive at the bungalow. Lucciano had made sure that was the case. She found him in his bed and without hesitation or remorse, she closed the oxygen valve. It was easy to keep her promise.