The story of the week for July 23 to 27 is…
Another Misadventure of the Broken Boys by Bob Thurber
All posts by Tim
VIJAI PANT: Revisiting Kargil Valour
“Hand over that bag. Quick,” the man snarled.
He remembered inspirational words from his father, martyred in Kargil: “Always be brave.”
No time for valour, he reasoned.
He gingerly surrendered the bag. The man unzipped it, gave an evil smile, and shot him.
There is no fixed time for valour.
Vijai Pant is a language teacher in a school in India. He is also a freelance writer.
FILLIP VERDUN: Mirror, Mirror
“Donald, you dropped the mirror on the floor.”
“I know. I was shaving and the thing was sneering at me.”
“You were seeing yourself.”
“I don’t care who I was seeing. I am the president and no one sneers at the president. Get me a new mirror that only smiles.”
Fillip Verdun wrote this story.
DANA C SMITH: Sweet Oliver
Oliver moved to California.
I don’t know when I fell in love with this child I barely knew. He’s the first person to whom I ever freely said “I love you.”
He’s only two. He won’t remember me, but he filled a void in my life I didn’t know existed.
Dana C. Smith holds an MFA in writing from Spalding University with an emphasis on fiction. Her previous work has appeared in “Ladies Home Journal” online version, “House Organ,” and “Escape Your World,” a short story anthology by Scribes Valley Publishing Company, where she was a finalist in a 2015 short fiction competition. She lives and writes in Nashville, Tennessee.
SHOSHAUNA SHY: Girlfriends
I never was in love with Gillian. Just thought I was.
But once she expired in my cellar, it smelled bad. And after I buried her, I found the diary in the wall crack. All she wrote about was escaping.
A petite redhead exits the bike path alone every evening.
Shoshauna Shy has had her flash fiction published by Sou’wester, Fiction Southeast, 100WordStory.com and other places.
STORY OF THE MONTH: June 2018
The Story of the Month is chosen from the Story of the Week winners announced from the past month.
The finalists for June were:
Camino by Rosemary Boyd
Spider Legs by Jo Withers
22nd Century Jury (a reverse story) by Alanah Andrews
A Dozen Irons in the Fire by Bob Thurber
Dependency by Carrie Backer
The winner of the June 2018 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…
Dependency
As Beverly Lucey put it in a comment, Carrie created such a rich ending, with the character facing a crucial choice (one he has obviously had to make many times in the past), layered with a hint at salvation (the bread and wine evoking communion). Add the dual meaning of the title, and Carrie has built a strong idea into a powerful moment.
BOB THURBER: Another Misadventure of The Broken Boys
In a place with no trees the boys built a forest of stone.
They chiseled and stacked, erecting one here, one there.
They carved branches and engraved leaves.
In daylight the fake trees looked ridiculous.
But at night, when the moon rose, forming long shadows, the world felt like home.
Bob Thurber is the author of “Paperboy: A Dysfunctional Novel” and two collections of stories. A celebrated master of Flash and Micro Fiction, his work has appeared in 60 anthologies, received dozens of awards, and been used in schools and colleges throughout the world. He resides in Massachusetts where, despite severe vision loss, he continues to write every day. Visit his website at BobThurber.net.
LANCELOT ELARIONOFF JR: A Home Love Built
They sit me down. Father’s words are broken and confusing. Mother’s tears are silent, but they shimmer with fear and anger, tracing her flushed cheeks as they fall.
The woman at the door remains stoic, but her eyes are sympathetic. Her lips whisper: my son, how I have missed you!
Lancelot is a retired U.S. Navy Submarine Chief and a creative writer at heart who fears rejection, and therefore keeps his stories locked away in his mind.
ANU VARIK: Lucky Break
I went out with the Devil’s only daughter. Or so she said.
“You’d be surprised how many girls claim that,” I teased her. She just smiled.
It didn’t work out, but we remained friends.
Now I’m in Hell; God knows why. And the Devil just gave me an encouraging nod.
Anu Varik is not famous. She might be one day.
SUSAN CORNFORD: Spirit
That is a photo of my girlfriend; it was the last good day she had before she died.
She doesn’t look sick, but she was. That wasn’t going to stop her doing what she wanted to do. She had spirit.
How do you get used to losing someone like that?
Susan Cornford is a retired public servant living in Perth, Western Australia. She has pieces published or forthcoming in 50-Word Stories, Akashic Books, Antipodean Science Fiction, CarpeArte Journal, Fewer Than 500, Ghost Parachute, Medusa’s Laugh, Speculative 66, Subtle Fiction, Switchblade, The Fable Online, The Gambler, and The Vignette Review. She considers herself an emerging flash writer.