The First Page Challenge 2026—1st place

Elai envied the pigs. They might be raised for slaughter, but they had no knowledge of what awaited them. They lay, fleshy pink piles in the sun, untroubled. He would have given anything for that peace.

Most people didn't like pigs. Their eyes were too small for their vast bodies, and you could always smell who had been on pig duty each week. But Elai thought they were soulful, like they held secrets. He enjoyed being assigned pig duty. If he had been on pigs, nothing would have gone wrong. But he wasn't. He was on chickens.

The morning's incident forced its way back into his mind. Feathers stuck to the ground with dried blood. A sweet smell in the air. The silence. He screwed his eyes shut and pressed it away.

He pulled himself away from the pig pen and crossed the dirt courtyard toward the Longhouse. The tightness beneath his ribs was familiar; he had been summoned to the Longhouse more than all the other kids combined.

Each step created a cloud of dust that filled his throat. The closer he got to the building, the harder it became to keep the tears from his eyes. He pushed his lips together firmly. He didn't deserve to cry. It was self-indulgent. He would accept his punishment like a man.

The sun was intense, but the Longhouse offered Elai no relief. The air inside was so thick he could choke on it. The familiar smells of animals and earth fell away, and he dug his fingernails into his palms. 

Isabella Malet-Lambert is a researcher by day and a writer by night, living in Wales. Her work has appeared in Elegant Literature. She has written a number of short stories, and is currently working on her first novel.