Winner of the Drabble of the Month contest for October is John-Paul Cote, who lives in St. Catharines, Ontario with his wife and two children. He’s been writing for years and is a fan of Sci-fi and fantasy. He is a person of few words, so he enjoys writing short stories and novellas the most. Read his winning drabble (100-word story) below.
The November winner will be posted on Friday, Nov. 6. Enter the Drabble of the Month contest anytime.
THE DEADLINE
“Rob’s gone,” Shelly said. “Right in front of us. Just dust.”
“And Josh?” Brayden asked. “He’s not Josh anymore, but he remembers everything. Who’s next?”
Brayden thought he shouldn’t have asked.
His arm broke apart first. Fine grey particles drifted down, then the rest of him followed.
Shelley tried to reach out for him but he was gone. “Brayden, no!”
David frowned at the page, rubbing his eraser across the panel.
The strip was due tomorrow. The joke wasn’t landing.
He studied the character, then sketched quickly. Brayden was returning to the page.
“No — Brayden should be fatter. Fatter’s funny.”
***
Five Days Left to Enter our Scary Story Contest
You have one week to submit your scariest story (max. word count 2500) to our Halloween Week 2026 contest. Simultaneous submissions, submissions of reprints (stories or poems previously published in print or online) and multiple submissions (though please only one story per submission) are welcome. The top five submissions in the contest are posted on CommuterLit during the week of Oct. 26-30, 2026 and receive cash prizes:
First-place: CA$100
Second-place: CA$50
(3) Runners-up: CA$25
Entry fee: CA$4
Submission are open now. The submission deadline is end of day EDT Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026.
***
Canadian Thanksgiving Holiday Schedule
Sharp-eyed readers will notice that the submission deadline for our Halloween Week contest has been extended from end of Monday, Oct. 12 to end of Tuesday, Oct. 13. That’s because the Thanksgiving holiday in Canada, where we’re based, falls on Monday, Oct. 12.
And CommuterLit will be taking the day off. Our first posting and Substack newsletter will go out on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
Happy Thanksgiving!