All posts by Tim

BOB THURBER: Buried in the Meadowlands

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , ,

After the last mourner left the wind picked up. The sun had slipped beneath the horizon and the moon was a phantom in a sky the precise color of anger in a grieving mother’s eyes. Hard wind swayed the high grass as though an army of ghosts were marching through.

Over the years Bob Thurber’s work has received a long list of awards and prizes. His most recent book is a collection of brief stories titled “Nothing But Trouble.” His first novel, “Paperboy: A Dysfunctional Novel,” was recently rereleased. Visit BobThurber.net.

MARK FARLEY: Sunday Visits With My Father

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

I try to be patient but it’s tough. He often forgets who I am.

And he’s acting more peculiar than ever. Last week he made a caterpillar walk on the rim of his teacup. Said it’d go on for years if you just set it straight once in a while.

Mark Farley is attempting to write 1,000,000 words in 2016. Only 7,000 to go; please wish him luck! See more at mumbletoes.blogspot.com.

LISA LYSEN: A Life Stolen

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , , ,

It’s foggy here, in my mind.
Words don’t come easy, all jumbled up in fog.
There’s sadness in their eyes.
Should I know them?
They act as if they know me; speak as if they love me.
I feel a tear escape and wonder what makes us all so sad.

Lisa Lysen is having fun exploring her passion for words, hoping an adventure in writing may be somewhere in her future.

CHRIS MARTIN: Like the Merle Haggard Song

Artistic, Submissions, , , , , ,

On my 128th day in Afghanistan, Blackwood and I were relaxing, smoking cigarettes. He said, “I don’t think we’re going to make it out of here.”

And I chuckled. Not because I thought he was wrong, but because I was surprised it took him so long to figure that out.

Chris is a former US Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

GORDON LYSEN: Danny Boy

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

I wonder what would have become of him. The bulletproof teenage years stole his future because of a fatal flaw in reasoning. His car had defied gravity in the curve, and sixty to zero became his final act. I lived and grew old.

I wonder what will become of me.

Gordon Lysen resides at Sugar Point on Lake Manitoba. Retired from police work after some 27 years, Gordon co-authored the novel “A Deadly Blend of Souls” with his wife, Lisa. Writing and painting are Gordon’s relaxation methods when retirement becomes too stressful.

NEGIN AGHAJARI: A Holiday Romance

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

Sitting alone on the plane, a pretty girl came and sat next to me. We immediately fell in love at first sight. At the end of the holiday we were really close and exchanged numbers.

Back home, I called her.

“My wife is in the shower,” said a masculine voice.

Negin Aghajari wrote this story.

CANDACE KUBINEC: The Vacation

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

She went over the checklist again: clothes packed, beach toys stowed in the trunk, a week’s worth of precooked meals in coolers.

Wendy was as excited as a four-year-old on a merry-go-round.

Waving madly, she watched as the car pulled away, giggling as the faces of her family slowly disappeared.

Candace Kubinec wrote this story.

GAIL L WINFREE: Sympathy for the Devil

Amusing, Submissions, , , , ,

Last night, the Devil came knocking. I invited him in for a cup of coffee. He said he was looking for a soul to make his quota. I looked at him; he looked at me. I said, Take my wife. She’s all I got but she’s yours. He left happy.

Originally from Tennessee, Gail L. Winfree is a writer and author currently living in Germany. He has written and published two novels and a book of poems and short stories.

SALLY BASMAJIAN: The Table

Submissions, Touching, , ,

He’d built it one summer, with determined hands and failing eyesight. A picnic table for two. Rough-hewn, sturdy—no curlicues or fancy woodworking.

“Silly man,” she said. “We’ll never use it.”

They didn’t; he died that winter.

The next spring, she sat there daily, remembering how much she’d loved him.

As a follow-up to her frivolous and fun career in broadcasting, Sally Basmajian is working on a variety of writing projects. She has won a few prizes for short fiction and creative non-fiction, and has recently completed a beach-worthy women’s novel.

ELDAR LEVIN: The Beginning

Adventure, Submissions, , , ,

“Get some rest,” the doctor suggested, upon glancing at my chart for a millisecond. “The fever will break soon.”

It sounded dismissive and rehearsed.

I fought the urge to launch into a diatribe about attention to detail. Realistically, it didn’t matter anymore: he was unaware he’d been treating Patient Zero.

Eldar recently finished reading a novel about a devastating pandemic. Go figure.