The story of the week for April 24 to 28 is…
Body by Jonathan Odell
Monthly Archives: April 2023
JONATHAN ODELL: Body
A scar on the knee from falling off a bike at 10. The slight stoop from twenty years at the computer. The ill-advised tattoo. Crinkled skin from summer suns. The artificial hip from a fall on ice. In the end, what we are left with is a body of evidence.
Jonathan Odell has published three novels and his essays and short stories have appeared in various national publications. He lives in Minneapolis with his husband. His website is JonathanOdell.com.
MIKKI ARONOFF: Spring Conspiracy
Those TV liars promised peonies, polliwogs, picnics. I’ve been duped! I scream from my rooftop. Only old Agnes, a lip reader across the street, hears. She marches over, shakes the base of my ladder, mouths Come down! I sit, pat the shingles around me. It’s warmer here, near the sun.
Mikki Aronoff’s work appears in New World Writing, MacQueen’s Quinterly, Tiny Molecules, Bending Genres, Milk Candy Review, Gone Lawn, Mslexia, The Dribble Drabble Review, 100 word story, The Citron Review, Atlas and Alice, trampset, jmww, and elsewhere. She’s received Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, Best American Short Stories, and Best Microfiction nominations.
MIKE McCAUSTLIN: Happy Hour
Alone in an empty bar sick with sunlight, he reached a crossroads when it came to his pint: should he force down the last mouthfuls of his now summer-warmed pilsner or, abiding his peevish instinct for wasteful renewal, go ahead and order another? Since the separation, answers didn’t come easily.
Mike is new to the world of flash fiction. His wife enjoys his writing, but the cat remains discouragingly harsh.
JENNIFER METCALF: Waiting For Her
I stare out the window, willing her to appear.
What is taking her so long? Stuck in traffic? Flat tire? Grisly accident?
No. I won’t think the worst this time.
At last, headlights in the driveway.
Before she can knock, I wrench the door open and snatch the DoorDash bag.
Jennifer Metcalf lives in New Hampshire and has written stories, articles, and poems for several children’s magazines. She is currently working on a humorous novel for women about the trials of being a stay-at-home mom.
ANTHEA JONES: Why won’t you fly, little bird?
Like the others,
You were born in Spring.
My finest down lines your nest.
I caught every meal you’ve ever eaten.
Your body is lean.
Your wings, straight.
Spread them, little bird. Fly!
Sharp-toothed nightmares lurk below, but-
Don’t give up.
I won’t.
Even though you’re not
like the others.
Anthea lives in sunny Queensland, Australia. She’s always writing, even if it’s just in her head. Find her online at @WriterAnthea
GENE NEWMAN: Lament
I’m an old guy finding ways to use up each day
so I can get back into bed at night.
I fill the bird feeder, take a painful walk,
spend my pension in inflationary stores.
It’s all the same to me.
I’m killing time, and time is returning the favor.
Gene Newman is a retired old guy (90 yrs) and former New Jersey journalist and columnist. Read more at GeneNewmanImagineThat.com.
CHRIS NEDAHL: Gabfest
Cock-crow ’til owl-hoot I toil. Feeding the hens, slopping the pigs, animal-speak my only communication. Long ago I stopped using words with Josiah, morose and silent man. Holding warm udders, I rhythmically pull. Brown eyes thank me. You’re welcome, I whisper back. My only happiness is this, speaking in tongues.
Originally from the Rhondda Valley, South Wales, Chris has lived for fifteen years in the Almanzora Valley, Almeria. She writes about anything and everything. Micro fiction, flash fiction, and poetry are currently favourites. Published internationally in anthologies, print, and online, she is compiling a book of her poetry and believes there has to be a courageous publisher out there!
JUDITH DZIERBA: Finding Happiness
Happiness, playing hide-and-seek,
____________stalking fairy tales,
____________once-upon-a-times.
Sneaking into fondest reverie,
fleeing from a darker memory.
Happiness, masquerading a smile,
____________falling head over heels,
____________upside down to a frown.
Escaping glumness nonstop,
floating above the teardrops.
Happiness, your time’s up! Now,
____________bestow my ever after
____________olly, olly, set me free.
Judith wrote this. She is happy having her writings appear in 50-Word Stories.
LILY OGDEN: The Collector
He collected unfinished things. Paintings abandoned on easels. Half-written books with heroes left mid-struggle. He’d always been bad at beginnings and preferred the established middles. The safe ground where there was still hope, potential, and indecision. He was, himself, an incidental person, a side character half-written and forgotten. A Collector.
Lily is an English artist living as a hermit in the wilds of Canada and trying to write.