The story of the week for December 19 to 23 is…
The Dying of the Sun by Swapna Sanchita
All posts by Tim
JEANETTE DRIVER: Andrea, Forty-One and Three Quarters
I wrote to him again last week. Couldn’t help myself. Only to say thank you for working your magic (moving Jonathan in next door) and could you possibly have a look at red lipsticks this year.
You see, he’s been so good to me, he’s like family now, Santa is.
Jeanette is starting with fifty words and will, slowly, work her way up to a novel.
ELENA EISS: Reverse Fairy
I woke to a tooth. Tucked under my pillow.
Thought it was an aspirin at first, but it was enamel smooth with little ridges and that cave where it fit in a mouth.
The spot where I’d found it waited. I dug a quarter from my laundry bin and paid.
Elena Eiss is a student in Pittsburgh CAPA’s Literary Arts Department. She is a fan of fiction and an avid reader. Her work has won Scholastic Writing Awards regionally and nationally, and the Pittsburgh City Theatre produced a one-act play of hers in 2021.
JERRY JERMAN: Yard Sale
“Whoa. Is that a .32?”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re selling it?”
“It’s out here, ain’t it?”
“Looks new.”
“Nearly. Only used once.”
“Really?”
“It was my husband’s.”
“Was?”
“Yeah.”
“Does he know you’re selling it?”
“Nope.”
“How do you know he doesn’t want it?”
“He’s not gonna be using it anymore.”
Jerry Jerman is a writer, film instructor, and travel enthusiast. His fiction has appeared in Prairie Schooner and 101-words and his nonfiction in Oklahoma Humanities. As a film instructor, he delights in teaching such films as Chinatown, Sunset Boulevard, and Dr. Strangelove.
ELLIE STEWART: It’ll Be Different the Next Time
I visit sometimes when the sun goes down.
I expect to find you in your room, curled under your blankets, a half-empty bottle of beer next to your head.
Instead, you’re away. Laughing. Drinking, yes, but with friends.
The truth hits like a train.
You’re happier now that I’m dead.
Ellie Stewart is 17 and lives in Utah, but neither of those things will last for much longer. She will move to the Pacific Northwest one day and continue writing short stories, poems, and eventually a novel, surrounded by fish tanks and house plants.
JEFF HARVEY: Motels Feel Safe
Momma won at penny slots and sent me to the vending machines for dinner. Pepsis. Fritos. Twinkies. Tomorrow we’d be back in the Chevy with no heat and the smell of burning brakes that reminded me of Dad. But tonight Alf was on TV, and Momma was coloring her hair.
Jeff Harvey writes short fiction. His work is in/ soon to be in Bending Genres, Blink-Ink, MoonPark Review, and others. He’s on Twitter at @JeffHarveySD.
GREG NOONEY: Euthanasia
Amidst ghastly moans, my human gently patted my head, and I snuggled up to him. Gazing into his pleading eyes, I understood his desperate need for release. Without knowing who would feed me afterward, I placed my paw on his chest and barked the magical incantation to stop his heart.
Greg Nooney has worked as a social worker/therapist for over 35 years and is currently writing a novel about a character with dissociative identity disorder. He can be reached through his website at gregnooney.com.
JILL ROBINSON: The Zoo
Sitting on the bench, watching families wander past, surrounded by cages and glass. Me looking at you, you looking through me. Am I as free as I’m led to believe?
Our hands rest side by side, inches and miles away. If I left, would you watch? I won’t say goodbye.
Jill Robinson is an author, wife, and mother of two. She has published personal narratives in two Chicken Soup for the Soul books, the upcoming book, So God Made a Mother with Her View From Home, as well as two anthologies with Moms Who Write, The Order of Us, and The History of Us. Jill creates dark fiction online with Kindle Vella. She is currently editing her first full-length dystopian novel. She creates humorous writing memes for Moms Who Write. You can follow Jill on Instagram at @firstdraftdotblog.
REBECCA KLASSEN: Corroded
He waxed and buffed for hours. Drifted fingertips across the frictionless bodywork before joining the other petrolheads at another show and shine. No one else ever brought their kid along.
“Aren’t you going to get out?” he asked his son when they parked.
“No.” His voice was coarse like rust.
Rebecca Klassen is an editor from the Cotswolds, UK. Her work has been published in journals such as Mslexia, Popshop, The Wild Word, Superlative, and The Phare. She has won the London Independent Story Prize for flash fiction. See more at bex350.wixsite.com/rebecca-klassen.
SWAPNA SANCHITA: The Dying of the Sun
No one remembered the precise day, but everyone agreed it began during the hottest June of the northern hemisphere, with violet.
There had been articles discussing wavelengths, but few understood the science. By the time red disappeared, leaving behind a translucency, the only thing noticeable was the biting cold.
Swapna Sanchita is a poet, storyteller, and educator who studied engineering and management before finding her way back to her first love, literature. Swapna lives in India, with her husband and two sons and loves coffee, chocolates, and books, not necessarily in that order.