"New Underwear for Zyreon" by Xiao Zhuo: Jan. 2024 2nd Place

As Zyreon threw away his last speck of underwear, a thought crossed his mind that perhaps he didn’t need to wear underwear after all. The New Year was rapidly approaching and maybe, just maybe, he could just do without it. With a sigh, he remembered that it was against his alien culture not to wear underwear at all after the great Underwear War of 2908. With that in mind, Zyreon decided that his New Year’s resolution would be to hunt for the most comfortable and fashionable underwear. He would bring on a new underwear trend to the far end of his planet Voridia.

The next day and many more days later, Zyreon continued on his mission. He went to many underwear shops to look for his new underwear. He even went to far away shops that were located at the other planets. Alas, he could not find any underwear that he was happy with. Each was either too cold or too hot to wear, too many pictures of stars or spaceships, too sparkly or just too dull, or just not the right amount of stretchiness and comfort. He was disappointed and was feeling despondent. He was on the verge of tears and was about to give up hope…

Wait! What was this that caught his eye…? Could it be the perfect underwear? Hidden behind the rack, Zyreon picked out something sparkly blue with tiny red stars of the right amount. Quickly, Zyreon tried it on. It was the right amount of stretchiness… not prickly or cold, not too hot or dull. It was the PERFECT piece of art! Zyreon was thrilled to find it! It was the best find of his year! Zyreon flew home, satisfied that he had fulfilled his new year's resolution at last.