A story about an unexpected encounter in the woods.
Catherine Ogston lives in Scotland and writes flash fiction, short stories and longer fiction. Stories have been published in New Writing Scotland, Leicester Writes Short Story Prize, Scottish Arts Trust, Retreat West Prize and others. Flash pieces have won or placed in Flash 500, TL;DR Press, Bath Flash, and upcoming in Best Microfictions 2025. Longer fiction has been long or short listed in the Exeter Novel Prize, Caledonia Novel Award and the Kelpies Prize.
"’If You Go Down to the Woods Today’ stayed with me long after I’d finished reading."
It’s been a great pleasure and privilege to judge this competition. Thank you to Erika and Gwenaël for making the process so enjoyable. We had a fascinating discussion about the stories via Zoom. Judging is highly subjective and it’s always interesting to hear the feedback of fellow judges with different reading tastes. I find it helps me appreciate the stories in new ways.
Thank you also to the shortlisted writers for sharing their stories with us. I enjoyed every one of them – they all exhibited different qualities and it was nigh-on impossible to select a winner from such a diverse and imaginative collection. Congratulations to all of you.
I’m a big fan of ghost stories, so If You Go Down to the Woods Today is suited to my personal reading tastes. It’s a well-crafted, well-written story; an original idea I hadn’t seen before, executed beautifully. And it nailed the Fabuly theme.
I enjoyed the subtle humour and its contrast with the sadness of Martha and Ethan’s situation. This is one of my favourite passages from the story:
…the memory of those years was hazy and indistinct. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to summon their faces into her mind but there was only that infuriating vagueness, like lines and shadows trying to coalesce underwater. A girl who loved singing and a boy who loved dinosaurs; a house with a cluttered hallway, stairs scattered with jumpers and schoolbags; a fridge decorated with children’s artwork and magnets; a garden with a sagging washing line; a husband called Duncan. Or perhaps Douglas. Faces and names were fading like old ink on an ancient document. She wanted to ask Ethan if it was happening to him as well but she also didn’t want to know. If his memories were intact then what did that mean; what was she left with?
The story is poignant, and it made me think about how we should enjoy life while we can, before the infinite nature of death takes hold of us.
‘If You Go Down to the Woods Today’ stayed with me, long after I’d finished reading. A very worthy winner.
"In such a small space, this story built a magnificent afterworld with interesting rules of engagement, intrigue, humor, and pathos[...]"
First, a big congratulations to the winner! The three judges discussed “If You Go Down to the Woods Today” at length; we mutually decided that it was a wonderful exploration of the Fabuly theme of “An Unexpected Encounter,” and also demonstrated a captivating writing style.
I was personally intrigued by the interesting situation of the kleptomaniac ghosts in the woods, stealing from tourists in an attempt to pass their eternal afterlife without being bored to (un)death. They try to remember Japanese, Dutch, and German portmanteau words to describe their complicated feelings in their in-between state, while slowly losing memories of even the simplest facts of their lives.
It’s not until they connect with a small child who can see them and tell them “No!” that they feel the stirrings of their past identities. But when the child is packed up and carted away by her parents, that moment of connection has only made them feel even more disconnected by comparison. The past lives of the two ghosts are gone for good, and their identities will continue to retreat from view more and more with each similar day.
In such a small space, this story built a magnificent afterworld with interesting rules of engagement, intrigue, humor, and pathos, featuring two ghosts who have somehow been forgotten by the cosmos, who are longing for any kind of human connection with the living. This story felt like a snapshot of the afterlife, and also an interesting exploration of what life might mean to us once we’re on the other side of it. Congratulations again!
"It is close enough to a normal ghost story to be easily relatable, yet different enough to be interesting. What a pleasure to drown in your universe!"
Thank you for participating in the contest! It was not an easy task to judge so many good short stories, but despite our different tastes, we agree on the quality of your writing. You can be proud to have earned first place. I hope you will see this as encouragement to pursue new literary projects!
My analysis can be organized along several criteria.
On a formal level, we all agree that your style is very skillful. The story is fluid and entertaining, with a touch of irony and humor, along with an emotional depth (a hint of melancholy).
This is definitely a strong point in your novel! We appreciated the way you depicted dead people killing time by stealing objects and the idea that their memories are fading. It is close enough to a normal ghost story to be easily relatable, yet different enough to be interesting. What a pleasure to drown in your universe! However, be careful—I noticed a few minor inconsistencies. For instance, one of the first things the dead want to ask the little girl is for information about the war in Ukraine and Game of Thrones. I understand the attempt at humor, but as dead people, I suppose they would have had plenty of opportunities to overhear conversations and learn about such topics. I doubt these are the first questions they would ask a living person. This brings us to...
It is easy to relate to the characters; we can sense their distinct psychologies and the relationships between them. There is a subtle note of self-doubt from Martha toward Ethan, not to mention their sadness about being in limbo (neither fully dead nor fully alive). Nevertheless, if you want to go a little bit further, I think the psychological aspects could potentially be developed further. We could have a glimpse about their sorrow, their hopes.
The ending is well-mastered. There is no fantastic (and useless) twist; you created a loop by repeating the question about “what is the [language] word for [something interesting]?” This effect produces the feeling that the story is completed. It is perfect and deserves a 10/10.
We had the impression that your story was written specifically for the contest. This is notably due to the middle line: “What’s the Dutch word for unexpected?” When there are so many talented candidates, fitting the theme is a good way to stand out.