Little Men with Big Teeth

This story won first place in the 2022 F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival Short Story Contest. Here are the judges comments. “The story uses the diagnostic language familiar to physicians to advance a complex discussion of the nature of human suffering. In examining Mrs. Fuller, the story's protagonist walks readers through the medical history of diagnosing dementia, presents a treatise on the nature of psychedelic drugs, and reveals both intriguing and mundane facts about neurological disorders. It's a challenging, deceptively warm story that uses heady clinical language to depict the exacting and ultimately empathetic nature of good and caring physicians. This story may at first seem as cold as any other fact-based diagnostic assessment, but the magic of the piece is that, at heart, it's about one person attempting to understand and assist someone who is in clear pain.”

It will appear as a reprint in the Glint Literary Journal in December 2025.