Category Archives: Amusing

CONNIE TAYLOR: Visitors

Adventure, Amusing, Submissions, , ,

We’ve been here for years, laughing among ourselves at your silly stories of UFOs, balloons, and Roswell crash. Visitors from outer space! your newspapers say. Cover stories, we say. Not understanding your culture and language made us stick out at first, but we’ve learned. We mingle freely among you now.

Connie Taylor left California to become a commercial fisherman in Alaska. She fished salmon, crab and shrimp for twenty years before settling in Cordova to become a printer and art gallery owner. Now she’s a publisher, photographer, and author. See more at fathompublishing.com.

YOGITA KHANDGE: The Last Martian

Amusing, Submissions, , , , ,

The last Martian watched mournfully as gun-wielding Earthlings and smog from brand-new factories smothered his once beautiful red planet. He bitterly remembered the day fifty years ago when a satellite from Earth landed and then left with a Martian soul. Breathing his last, he lamented “Your homecoming doomed us, Elon.”

Yogita Khandge wrote this story.

JONATHAN ODELL: Inventing Time was God’s First Mistake

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

Eve didn’t blame the snake. It was Time that got her and Adam into trouble. When God showed them that apple tree, their mouths watered. Then he told them, “Don’t eat it.” What did he do next? Left them alone. With Time on their hands and apples on their minds.

Jonathan Odell has published three novels and his essays and short stories have appeared in various national publications. He lives in Minneapolis with his husband. His website is JonathanOdell.com.

LAURA COOKSON: Assessment

Amusing, Submissions, , , , , ,

I sit, tapping my foot and avoiding eye contact with the man opposite.

Finally the receptionist looks up: “Welcome to the Afterlife. Please take your name badge and enter the assessment room.”

I leap up and grab a random name badge, hoping ‘Jacob Coleman’ was a better man than I.

Laura Cookson lives in Liverpool, England with her fiancé and cat. Her short fiction has also appeared in Short Fiction Break, and she blogs about books and writing at www.daydreamingdragons.com.

AJDA ÇELEBI: Tonsillectomy

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

I wonder if my overly-enlarged tonsils ever felt alone in my mouth. I bet they were happy in March when I met Drew, and another mouth answered mine—and they got to whisper to fellow tonsils. Now they float in formaldehyde away from my tongue and Drew’s. Alone together.

Ajda Çelebi (she/her) likes to fold words into napkin art and often falls asleep in the company of good sentences. She has a degree in Critical Theory/Social Justice and Interdisciplinary Writing from Occidental College. She lives in Nashville, TN with her cat Banana but originally hails from Brooklyn, NY. You can find more of her writing at oncelaysofferings.substack.com and oncelay.com.

DEE ARTEA: Making

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Let’s make—

up – ah, good, but it was your fault
a face – nah, na, na, nah, nah
due – that’s enough, eh
a difference – good for us
believe – ah, that’s cute

up – no, it was my fault
it better – we’re both at fault

And so

out – umm, that’s new, yes, ooh!

Dee Artea found a creative voice at the age of 77, three years ago, from which emerged a variety of short stories and poems – many of which have been published in online journals and magazines such as Mono, Altered Reality, CommuterLit, Tilted House, and Bewildering Stories.

LISA CHAMBERS: A Real Beauty

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Love was in the air as he gazed admiringly across the room. That gorgeous face. Those delicate hands. This beauty was going home with him.

When he walked in the door, his wife gasped in surprise.

A secondhand replica of her beloved grandmother’s clock.

Her reaction went viral on TikTok.

Lisa Chambers is a Texas girl who sees the beauty in all things.

JAMES MENGES: Not Yet, But Soon

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

The headline “ChatGPT eliminates need for writers” has him nervously type the prompt: “write a fifty-word story about love lost”.

Within seconds, ChatGPT spits out prose in any style: gothic, sci-fi, even hipster slang, but to his delightful surprise, it never gets the word count right.

He is temporarily relieved.

James Menges is a writer and photographer who keeps one eye looking over his shoulder at the approaching AI future. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

GENE NEWMAN: The Game of the Name

Amusing, Submissions, Touching

My prenatal name was “IT”.

“Congratulations! When will ‘it’ arrive?”

Then I was “Baby”, spitting image of Grandpa, but that was fixed.

My juvenile names: “Kid” and “Hey you”.

My army names: “Private”, “Dogface” and “!%*#”.

Finally came “Sweetheart”, “Hubby”, and soon, “Daddy”.

“It junior” is expected in the spring.

Gene Newman is a retired old guy (90 yrs) and former New Jersey journalist and columnist. Read more at GeneNewmanImagineThat.com.

PONTIUS PAIVA: py9ma1i0n

Adventure, Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

She brought meaning to the life of the old inventor. Yet before today, she never even knew he existed. Her thoughts and feelings came as a surprise to them both. Over the years they learned and laughed, even loved.

It was obvious he had built more than “just a robot.”

Pontius Paiva tries his best to bring characters to life and can be found tinkering away on multiple projects at pontiuspaiva.com.