Finding Something "On the Premises"

Nothing beats a contest that provides a writing prompt, and On the Premises has one going on now with a delightful theme: "Found." If words are indeed like suitcases, how much can be packed inside this one, yes? The challenge is to write a creative, compelling, and well-crafted story between 1,000 and 5,000 words that clearly uses the premise, to wit: "One or more characters unexpectedly finds one or more physical objects somewhere. Something about the object(s) raises questions the character(s) want answered." Send your entry before midnight, Eastern Time, Saturday, May 31st, 2008, to entries(at)onthepremises(dot)com. Prizes are as follows:

• 1st Prize: $140
• 2nd Prize: $100
• 3rd Prize: $70
• Honorable Mention: $25

On the Premises is published every four months, and the stories published are the winning entries. They also occasionally run mini-contests with smaller prizes. To be eligible to enter these, all that is necessary is to sign up for their free, short, monthly newsletter.
Also delightful: there are no entry fees for any of their contests! Please go to their website to read the current issue and check out the rest of the contest guidelines.