‘Coin Girl’ by Cadence Mandybura

Healthy Competition

From Pulp Literature Issue 47, discover the winner of the 2025 Bumblebee Flash Fiction Contest, ‘Coin Girl’ by Cadence Mandybura. Read an excerpt of this story below, then find the rest in Issue 47, Summer 2025!

Coin Girl

by Cadence Mandybura

Adora rubs her forearm, where the bud of a coin itches against her bone. Catching the gleam of her older sister watching from the other side of the coach, Adora turns the gesture to a scratch and swat, as though pestered by a fly. Liya nudges her chin forward, and fear floods Adora.

Liya knows.

Adora leans back into her nest and pretends to go to sleep like her younger siblings, slumping against the long hours of travel. She can talk to Liya at the next town, after the obligatory performance. She thinks, dreads, that she needs Liya’s help. But who else can she trust?

The coins are getting stuck. And without the coins, Adora is nothing.

The crowd is sparse and squinty in the midday heat, not much charmed by Bess and Boster’s clown routine. The young ones are the warm-up act, attracting an audience while Adora waits backstage, sweating in her puffed dress. Her mother tuts and yanks the hem closer to Adora’s ankles.

“Another growth spurt,” mutters Mother. Father dabs makeup on a pimple above Adora’s left eye. Her parents’ irritation grinds in the hot shade like sandpaper. Liya’s already out in the audience.

A few slaps of applause as Bess and Boster take their bows. Adora walks out with her mandolin, giving the little ones a bright smile and chucking them under the chin. They grin back, and no one can tell how much they all hate each other.

Once, it was only Adora’s extraordinary musical talent that divided them. Then came the coins, and her parents’ favour poisoned any affection between the siblings. They still resent Adora getting extra helpings of food, even though she now tries to share it back.

Adora starts with a pretty étude. The coin in her arm is a blunt annoyance as she picks through arpeggios, hoping the applause will help coax the metal to the surface.

During a virtuosic flourish, she hits a sour note when she meets Liya’s suspicious stare. Liya isn’t part of the show; she’s never been cute enough for the stage. Her job is to drum up tips and manage their finances.

Adora skims her gaze away and carries on playing, her face prickly. The pennies they get from performances aren’t enough. If this coin doesn’t come soon, there won’t be any food to go around, no matter how carefully Liya plans.

Find the full story in Pulp Literature Issue 47, Summer 2025

Cadence Mandybura’s award-winning speculative fiction has appeared in Metaphorosis, Tales & Feathers, and Orca, as well as in Pulp Literature issues 29, 35, and 37. Cadence is a graduate of the Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University and a past associate producer for the fiction anthology podcast The Truth. She likes to drum. Find her at CadenceMandybura.com.