The story of the week for July 21 to 25 is…
Twin Brother by Jeff Harvey
All posts by Tim
STEPHANIE HURLEY: My North Star
It was always our thing — searching for familiar shapes in the inky black. Even in Dad’s hospital room, his tired eyes watching and monitors softly beeping, I found Polaris through the telescope. Something to guide me.
Now, in the silence, all I can see is the dark between the stars.
Stephanie Hurley is a writer and English teacher based in Manawatū, New Zealand. She is passionate about all things creative; in particular, using writing to examine the world around her. Her work has been published in Tarot and Mote.
SUSAN HUNT: Final Gamble
Fila stood by the Packard as a hot wind blew gritty dirt devils around her. She stared at 26 acres of Blackland prairie, a gambler’s final gamble. A gusher, he vowed, Texas gold. Fila saw only dirt, a dry hole gone bust, but it was risky to tell him no.
Susan Hunt lives in Texas, a place that informs her writing as well as her history. Now a retired technical writer and editor, Susan writes flash fiction about Fila, whose history is entangled with her own.
DAVE BRADLEY: Always
If I am to die, let it be in Paris. Surround me with smoke and noise. Hide me in the flickering light from cheap picture houses. Let lovers on their Haussmann balconies glance away and smile over Beaujolais as I sag into the street, folding on myself like a crêpe.
Dave Bradley’s words have appeared in publications such as Best Of British Science Fiction 2018 and Dorling Kindersley’s The Screen Traveller’s Guide, as well as various pop culture magazines and websites.
JEFF HARVEY: Twin Brother
Layoff notice. Package of unopened underwear. Empty bottles of Jim Beam. Yearbook opened to page where he and his girlfriend were homecoming royalty. Mom calls out, “Keep one collared shirt.” I hang the green one in the closet. Everything else fits into one garbage bag placed outside Mom’s back door.
Jeff Harvey lives in San Diego and edits Gooseberry Pie Lit. He has recent work in trampset and Bending Genres.
NICK YOUNG: Embers of Memory
Of a summer’s evening we gather around the campfire, laughing and singing the old songs. Most of all we revel in the tall tales about granddad. And as we speak, each in turn with a riotous story, he comes alive once more, his ruddy face beaming in the dancing flames.
Nick Young is a retired award-winning CBS News Correspondent. In addition to 50-Word Stories, his writing has appeared in dozens of reviews, journals and anthologies. His first novel, “Deadline,” was published in 2023. He can be found on Bluesky at @youngnick.bsky.social. He lives outside Chicago.
DON NIGRONI: The Truth in Time
I found a bottle on a sandy beach. It was full of time. I had so many unfulfilled dreams and always told myself that was because I always had too little time. But I had to finally admit the truth when I tossed that bottle back into the endless sea.
Don Nigroni is a retired labor economist with a master’s degree in philosophy from Notre Dame.
TIM BOITEAU: Nomophobia
He adored phones so much, he wished he could become one. Wanted a squircle-shaped body; gleaming, touch-sensitive skin. Wanted to be able to update and slip into pockets, to be held and gazed upon for endless hours every day. Maybe if he broke his mother’s, he could take its place.
Tim Boiteau is an award-winning writer living in Michigan with his family. He is the author of three novels, most recently The Nilwere (Grendel Press, 2024). See more at timboiteau.wordpress.com
NINA FEINBERG: Grandma in Italy
In the nursing home, she describes what she’s been up to: floating along the canals of Venice, wandering through the streets of Rome. “I know I’m not, but I think I am,” she tells my mother.
We know she’s there, but we think she’s here, in Maryland with us.
Nina Feinberg is a writer, photographer and distance runner. She lives in Brooklyn, NY and works in user experience design.
IAIN GRINBERGS: After Feeding the Ducks
I wheel Grandpa to the men’s restroom, but there’s no disabled stall. He struggles into a non-accessible one, clutching the doorframe, the toilet roll holder, reaching. I try to help, but he waves me away. I tell him I’ll wait outside. I tell him I’m here if he needs me.
Iain Grinbergs is an English professor and the author of Vanity Twist, a chapbook (Bottlecap Press).