The Resilient Creative

The Resilient Creative

CNF, Fiction & Poetry

"Lottery Days" by Jen Knox

fiction, micro

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Jen Knox
Sep 24, 2025
∙ Paid
a group of crayons lined up in a row
Originally published in Literary Orphans and reprinted in The Best Small Fictions

© Jen Knox

You told me not to play with matches that summer, so I palmed a corner-store lighter instead. The flame reached for the tip of your blue Crayon, until you knocked the lighter from my hands. You wanted to color the sky, you said, and I wouldn’t ruin your chance.

I p…

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