Category Archives: Amusing

KAYLEIGH SHOEN: An hour into the Whale Watch I remember why we broke up the first time

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Suddenly he’s an expert on whales. Their weight, their songs…

…evolved from land animals the size of goats. And eat 5,000 pounds of fish every day. If they still lived on land…

Tuning him out, I watch the whales. Imagining all the delicacies they missed out on, settling for krill.

Kayleigh Shoen is a writer and teacher in Boston, MA. Her stories have appeared in X-R-A-Y, Milk Candy Review, [100 word story], and elsewhere. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Emerson College. Her tweets can be found at @Whowantssoup.

TOM SNETHEN: Art Critic

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

The artist sold portraits from a sidewalk display.

“How much for this piece?” asked the matron from the Cadillac.

“$25,” the artist said.

“I’ll take it.”

She leaned the canvas against her car while she fumbled for her credit card. Her dog Ruffles sniffed the painting and cocked his leg.

Tom Snethen writes about the humorous saints and scoundrels he worked among during a career as a manufacturing chemist. His stories range from throwing a flaming mattress out of a working brothel’s window to borrowing a bank robber with needed skills from the penitentiary.

LEIA ZVYA: Life Lessons

Amusing, Odd, Submissions, , ,

“Here’s the thing,” she said.

We all leaned in as she stood up, put her hands in her pockets, and examined us over the top of her glasses.

She pulled out a paper clip and tossed it onto the table, nodding as she watched it land. Then she walked away.

Leia Zvya does many things. She is better at some than she is at others, but she tries to find the joy in all of them. This is her first attempt at microfiction.

GENE NEWMAN: Arithme(tac)tic

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

People rudely ask, “How old are you?” and then look shocked when I answer, “Ninety.”

“Well, God bless you,” they say.

Ninety isn’t that old. Millions of turtles are older than me.

My grandson yearns to be older, so he’s “six and a half.”

Therefore, I’m now 60 and a half.

Gene Newman wrote this story. See more at GeneNewmanImagineThat.com.

SUSAN GALE WICKES: Just Another Storybook Romance

Amusing, Submissions, Touching, , , ,

The carriage crept quietly along the cobblestones.

Its occupants, a handsome man and a beautiful young woman, barely spoke.

Harsh words had passed between them.

Silently, he wished he’d never found the glass slipper.

Secretly, she hoped he would turn into a pumpkin.

Oddly enough, they lived happily ever after.

Susan Gale Wickes is from Indiana. She still believes in happily ever afters.

CMF WRIGHT: Changeling Child

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

She was young and curious, and we all know what happens to curious little girls in stories.

The witch lured her in, and when the girl left the forest she was changed. She could read and write, and recite pi to ten digits.

The villagers warded her off with crosses.

C.M.F. Wright is an avid reader and sentence wrangler. Her short stories have appeared in Fifty Word Stories, Microfiction Monday, Syntax & Salt Magazine, and the VSS365 Anthology.

BOB THURBER: Leaving on a High Note

Amusing, Submissions, ,

I wanted to say something noble and precise,
something magnanimous and final.

A parting shot bursting with clearheaded decisiveness,
a line she would record in her diary on a page all its own,
then days later tear out and burn, but never be able to forget.

But I had nothing.

Bob Thurber is the author of six books. Regarded as a master of Flash and Micro Fiction, his work has appeared in Esquire and other magazines, been anthologized 60 times, received a long list of awards, and been utilized in schools and colleges throughout the world. He resides in Massachusetts. Visit his website at BobThurber.net.

JOHN H DROMEY: Traced Evidence

Amusing, Puns and Wordplay, Submissions, , ,

“Henderson clearly violated his parole. GPS tracking indicated he drove to Tuscaloosa and back over the weekend. Coffee stains on his trousers contained traces of moonshine.”

“Judge Foster despises long reports. Send him an email.”

“Saying what?”

“Re: Henderson. He came from Alabama with a banned joe on his knee.”

John H. Dromey has had short fiction published in Mystery Weekly Magazine and 190 other venues.

MAGGIE SEREN: Bella’s Bang on Trend on Buttermere

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , ,

The fell, reflected in the mere, turns the morning upside down. Bella tiptoes over pebbles, breathing deeply as the water reaches her thighs. Exhales as she pushes off; an unhurried breaststroke.

They call it wild water swimming; they call it mindfulness.

Bella, 80 years young, calls it her daily dip.

Maggie Seren, who has only recently started writing flash fiction, teaches in the West Midlands but her heart resides in a coastal village in West Wales. When not writing, she enjoys walking her two chocolate labs on windswept beaches.

MICHELLE WILSON: New Friends to the Rescue

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

She was unraveling in the bathtub when the walls came alive.

The shower handle was a silver bird grooming a faucet-shaped, one-eyed parrot. “Hello, Gorgeous,” it said.

Shampoo bottles giggled; the soap dish sang an aria.

The mirror cracked a smile. “Congratulations, you’ve survived three-hundred-and-sixty-seven days of self-quarantine!”

Everyone cheered.

Michelle Wilson’s words have appeared in Litro Magazine, The Drabble, 50-Word Stories, Literally Stories, Flash Fiction Magazine, and Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood, among others. She lives in Miami Beach, Florida. Sometimes, she can be found at https://medium.com/@wilsmk.