I was asked earlier this year to be a judge for the website Friday Flash Fiction’s writing competitions. I was delighted and honoured that I would be able to read and review the many entries that I had once only been a participant in, and it was indeed a real treat. My favourite in the 2023 Andrew Siderius competition was The Apple by Alex Blaine and although it made the shortlist, it didn’t win. However, it’s a story that has never left me. And here’s my review as a judge too: 'The first sentence of this story hooked me in from the start because it set the scene for the reader immediately. The writer had considered language choice throughout the piece because it conveyed strong imagery, a sense of place, and visualisation of the characters. The last line was equally striking with an analogy of a golden apple with a rotten core to an SS soldier. I shuddered with fear for the elderly man as the story finished, leaving the reader to imagine (with dread) the outcome of this act of he