The story of the week for August 22 to 26 is…
Alternative Fuel by V. Jane Schneeloch
Jane has done a great job of getting across Romeo’s disappointment and Agnes’ dismissiveness. Good work demonstrating the “show, don’t tell” principle.
All posts by Tim
JASON HUYNH: Morning in the Castle Ruins
I saw my reflection in a stone wall. Ivy had scaled and draped it long ago. But when the ivy became too heavy and fell away partially, the wall still stood tall. Abandoned, then suppressed, now regaining freedom.
We feel the rising sun’s warmth again. We were not dragged down.
Jason was inspired by the ivy hanging from the brick wall in his patio.
DAVID S ATKINSON: The Fox-Trot Is Not One of the Twelve Steps
Hi, I’m Jim and I’m here because of the damn judge. See… I sleep naked and don’t dress until after breakfast and coffee. So I took the coffee pot and griddle out of their boxes, new as they were, and got started. The people at that Walmart were sure mad.
David S. Atkinson is the author of “Apocalypse All the Time” (forthcoming 2017), “Not Quite so Stories,” “The Garden of Good and Evil Pancakes” (2015 National Indie Excellence Awards finalist in humor), and “Bones Buried in the Dirt” (2014 Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist, First Novel <80K). His writing appears in "Bartleby Snopes," "Grey Sparrow Journal," "Atticus Review," and others. Check out his writing website.
ALEXANDER KEISTER: Purrrrgatory
“Don’t you open that door!” she’d say to anyone visiting her house.
Stench of cat urine almost overpowered the smoke that clung in cancerous clouds to the curtains, carpet, newspapers.
They found little left of her but glasses hanging amiss, unopened cat food in hand.
She must’ve opened the door.
Alexandra always remembers to feed her cat, who sleeps outside for good reason.
JENNIFER FALES: Grimalkin
The spindly wanderer leapt through Mattie’s window Sunday afternoon, undaunted by a sweltering, mosquito-fat humidity. Its coat, a raggedy indigo blue, was soft beneath her ancient fingertips.
Mattie was confident her caregivers, with their hateful, gliding vowels and condescending consonants, would hardly tolerate it—so she kept the darned thing.
Jennifer Fales is an award-winning author and freelance writer from Southern California.
CHRIS JUDD: Gone Fishing
“Come with us,” they said. Eventually, he went with them.
The world’s media had long been alight. It’s not every day undecipherable symbols appear on the Moon.
His crime? Fishing on the river while everyone was panicking.
That, and being the only being on Earth able to read the symbols.
Chris Judd is an Englishman living in South Korea riding the ESL wave.
FRANCES HART: Alaskan Trailer
The girl with the yellow rucksack smiled. At last she could see the dead spruce that marked the end of the long trail. She plodded on.
A jay called in alarm and the black bear cub, scrambling through the spruce, paused.
Its mother looked up, saw the flash of yellow.
Frances Hart lives in southeast England and has won several national fiction and poetry competitions. She has published a novel through Authorhouse, “The Girl on the Balcony” by Frances Hart, available on Amazon.
CAROLINE CAO: Face on a Poster
She tore down each of her MISSING posters, cursing her own name more than her mother’s. She slinked beneath bridges, laid on the mattresses of marsh slime, or drifted into alleys.
Yet, she preserved the posters, her printed visages, because they documented the time, long ago, when she could smile.
Caroline Cao is an Earthling residing and surviving under the fickle weather of League City, TX. When she’s not doing poetry or researching techno-babbles for sci-fic drafts, she’s out swing dancing or experimenting with ramen noodles. She nudges you to scan through her film and writing portfolio.
JOHN TROTT: Mania
World leaders summoned the aging hacker to thwart a new form of terrorism. A subverted Pokémon GO was luring millions to their deaths. Hacker had inserted an avaricious agent designed to destroy them all within 24 hours.
The screens powered on; a single grinning character remained: Pac Man had returned.
John Trott wrote this story.
V JANE SCHNEELOCH: Alternative Fuel
Romeo smiled at Agnes and pointed to the wood pile. “See that! I bucked up those two cords in a single day. Just me and my double-bitted axe.”
But Agnes, who had a crush on his brother, just smiled and said, “We got gas heat now, don’t need no wood.”
V. Jane Schneeloch has been either writing or encouraging others to write for most of her life. Retired from teaching English at East Hartford High School, she has led writing workshops for youths, senior citizens, and incarcerated women. Her poems have been appeared in numerous journals. Her most recent collection, Turning Over Leaves, was published by Antrim House in 2015, and her chapbook, Climbing to the Moon: Poems Inspired by the Art of Georgia O’Keeffe, was published in 2009 by Finishing Line Press. Her plays In Hiding and The Test were produced at the Drama Studio. She lives in Springfield, Massachusetts, where she continues to be inspired by her walks in Forest Park. See more at vejane.com.