Three Local Students Win Summer Fiction Competition

First Place
Lachesis’ Message
Written by Cleo Falvey, Brookline High School, 9th Grade

Second Place
The Little Matron that Could
Written by Callie Helfrich, Hingham High School, 10th Grade

Third Place
A Lack Thereof
Written by Dylan Lindsay, Hingham High School, 9th Grade

Click here to read the winning stories.

"The winning story, Lachesis’ Message, by Cleo Falvey, used the fact that Moira, the name on the boat, is also the name of the three Fates of Greek mythology.  Two of the Fates make important appearances in the story, which is richly written and elegiac.  It is a lovely story about the fate of the young sailors, shown in the painting, as they go off to sea in a small boat.  The richness of the painting itself, with its dark and saturated colors, as well as the evident sadness on the mother's face, is reflected in the story," Fluency Factory writes on its website.

Executive Director Richard McManus describes this year's theme:

"When we moved to 165 Beal Street, John and Martha Bewick were our neighbors in the building.  When they moved to a new location they had no walls big enough for this gorgeous painting. Martha's aunt, a noted muralist, painted this when she was young, and Martha graciously loaned it to us.  It has graced the lobby since then, and I have always felt it deserves wider attention.  The three figures are powerfully drawn and the emotion is palpable.  Everyone speculates about them and what is happening."