Our blended household combines memories of lost spouses
Picking and choosing what to retain of our former lives
Your strengths shore me up where I am weak, and
My children’s pictures don’t remind you of yours
Together we strive to appear whole again
Though we know we are irretrievably broken.
Robert Carlberg is a retired technical writer.
“I hear the company you work for is run on clichés.”
“Yes, like clockwork.”
“Can you give me an example?”
“Well, when the head honcho quit, he left big shoes to fill.”
“So?”
“Members of the Board of Directors are looking for a replacement. They’ve scheduled an interview with Sasquatch.”
John H. Dromey hopes he’s not a walking, talking cliché. To avoid giving that impression, he spends a lot of time sitting down.
Editor: Speaking personally, the slight delay in me “getting it” increased the groan size. Your mileage may vary.
Our paths crossed as inevitably they would in a small town. Over coffee we talked, again and again, the bottom of the cups always appearing before the end of our words. Best friends like none we’d ever known before.
Then Cupid spied us, shot a single arrow grazing us both.
Sandra James writes from a rural property in Heathcote Victoria, Australia. Her second collection of short fiction, Black Rain and other stories, will be released on Kindle soon.
Hope is reaching out to her after a huge argument. Hope is trusting that she’ll see it was all her fault. Hope is going to a restaurant together and waiting for her to apologise. Hope is believing something out there will remove a red wine stain from your good shirt.
Bill lives in Aberdeen, Scotland with his partner, daughter, dog and a gypsy curse he can’t quite shake off.
In three decades of practice, Dr. Raymund had never seen anything like it. His patient reclined in the dental chair complaining of molar pain, opened wide, and then Zzziiiiip! Something small and shiny spun out of her mouth and flew through the open window. “Doctor,” she said, “you work fast.”
Tracy Royce’s writing appears in / is forthcoming in 101 Words, Does It Have Pockets?, The Dribble Drabble Review, Frogpond, MacQueen’s Quinterly, whiptail: journal of the single line poem, and elsewhere.
The story of the week for January 27 to 31 is…
The Smile by Clive Oseman
Trees sway, creating monsters on moonlit curtains. Fear squeezes my gut as shadows float toward me. Spindly fingers caress my throat and tighten as ragged nails draw blood. Choking, I claw at the bony wrists that vanish at dawn.
Staring in the mirror, I wonder if nightmares always leave marks.
Rita Riebel Mitchell writes in the Pinelands of South Jersey. Her work appears in Flash Fiction Magazine, Versification, Black Hare Press, 101 Words, and others. Visit her at FridayMicro.com.
I scratch my scalp as I dial Mom.
“Morning, bug,” Mom chirps.
“Hi. So, um. A thing’s missing.”
“What thing?”
“I… don’t know. It’s just not around. I told Mary, but sh—”
Blip. Our call drops just prior to my finishing a final sound.
Oh.
Of cours. Silly m.
Gabriella Batel is a young Catholic woman with an adrenaline craving and a passion for God, family, movies, fanart, and good food. She’s the author of the acclaimed Don’t series and the upcoming dark fantasy mystery Ending. You can find out the thrill ride she’s on at gabriellabatel.com
A sniff in the dark—just curtains and the wind, but… When I close my eyes, it’s you. Folding the shirt you hang on the back of a chair, nails on guitar strings, your fingers on my skin, breath that leaves me breathless. Oh, to hear that song once more.
JL Peridot writes love letters to the future on devices from the past. You can find more of her work at jlperidot.com.
Eighty days of darkness. The moon creeps out of the dark cloud, its flames flickering, out of reach. You and the hall’s weary inhabitants stretch, desperate for a sliver of light. The moon’s glow taunts, then vanishes, leaving only the crushing darkness. The darkness is not new, yet it’s unfamiliar.
Bello Taiwo Victoria is an emerging writer and incurable introvert with an appreciation for paintings and other forms of artistic expression. Her writings have been published in the Journal Of African Youth Literature and Writers Space Africa – Nigeria.