The story of the week for August 5 to 9 is…
The Lucky One by John B. Sinclair
and
The Mark by G.B. Burgess
All posts by Tim
MATTHEW COWARD: A Gladiator’s Bonds
Blood splattered the sand and the colosseum roared.
Cenicus stood over his fallen opponent as circling beasts gnawed at their fetters.
The wounded man looked up and smiled. “Good fight, son.”
Cenicus nodded but did not lift his visor.
His eyes ran freely as he waited for the master’s thumb.
Matthew Coward is a habitual daydreamer, occasional writer, and proud night-owl. He writes fantasy inspired flash fiction, short stories, and poetry.
JENISE COOK: His Last Wish
The acrid smell of July fourth fireworks burned Stella’s throat. She handed the firecracker to the pyrotechnician. He attached a wire and set it off to the side.
At nightfall, the crowd cheered as it burst into red, white, and blue.
Stella watched Ed’s cremains descend.
“Enjoy your wish, sweetheart.”
Jenise Cook lives with her husband and their herding dog in the north-central highlands of Arizona where it snows. Jenise enjoys visitors to @jenisecook on Twitter, @jenisecook on Medium.com, and at JeniseCook.com, where you can find a list of her published works.
DENNY E MARSHALL: A Rescue?
You and a friend have been stranded for over a decade.
You have searched for years, covering hundreds of miles, finding no signs of others.
You hear a loud roar and see a spacecraft approach.
Is it a rescue, or an unknown danger?
Markings on the craft read Earth One.
Denny E. Marshall had had art, poetry, and fiction published. One recent credit is fiction in Night To Dawn 35, April 2019. See more at dennymarshall.com.
ALICE CIMINO: It Depends On How You See It
Game, set, match.
After a four-hour battle, X has finally defeated Z. It is the first time in their long careers.
X walks to the net, outstretches his hand, but Z barely shakes it.
“First in a thousand,” Z disdainfully mutters.
“Maybe,” X says. “But the first of a million.”
Alice Cimino is a student who loves writing and thrives to improve. Does she have time? Not necessarily. But does time matter? It depends on how you see it…
JOHN B. SINCLAIR: The Lucky One
“I’m sorry. Your tests with the latest medication proved unsuccessful. The prognosis is six months.”
John grasped his wife’s hand and squeezed it gently.
They travelled to the airport in silence, but desperate to talk.
Understanding airline staff upgraded them.
“Your lucky day!” cracked a joker as they left Economy.
John B. Sinclair is a much-travelled Scot who has now returned to Scotland, where he enjoys freelance writing on a variety of subjects.
JOHN H DROMEY: A Lopsided Triangle
When last I saw them, they were down by the river. They were holding hands. No surprise there; she’d always been possessive.
On this occasion, she seemed especially reluctant to let go. She professed to love his mind and body, while her rival’s interest was strictly physical…
The crocodile prevailed.
John H. Dromey has a 10-word story, “Paranormal Household Survey,” on the Potato Soup Journal website.
ALISON YONG: Medusa
Her lip curled like a snake on Medusa’s head—curled as if to say someone who still lived in our hometown couldn’t possibly allude to Greek mythology.
She’d had her hair done at some city salon, and she dared to insult me on my home turf at the Piggly Wiggly.
Alison Yong is the office manager of a cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts. She may be the only presenter in the history of the world to have her recorded speech at the Harvard Graduate School of Education censored for filth. She loves green tea lemonade.
JANET CLARE: Routine 2019
Despair of evening gives way to terrors of the night, to sleep, disrupted, dreaming of elegance, of past and future nightmares. To wake to morning and rise, to work, to read, to listen for wisdom, to love again and hope for another evening, another night, another dream of another day.
Originally from New York, Janet Clare lives in Los Angeles with her husband. She’s had short fiction and essays published in literary journals online and anthologized. She studied at UC Berkeley and UCLA. Her first novel, Time Is the Longest Distance, was published December 2018 by a small press out of Australia, where the story is set. She is at work on her second novel, A Different Happiness.
GB BURGESS: The Mark
Mark had waited sixty years for revenge.
Searching the retirement home, he found Ben snoozing, feeble. But Mark felt no sympathy for his old enemy.
“For what you did to me at that party,” Mark sneered.
He raised a magic marker, and marred Ben’s face with a moustache and glasses.
G.B. Burgess is a graphic designer. She is occasionally commissioned at parties to create moustaches and glasses.