Category Archives: Amusing

JOHN SAMUEL ANDERSON: Frustration in a Wizard

Amusing, Submissions, , , , ,

Glass shards sparkled against the flagstones in the light of stark realization. He repented and reversed time, erasing the mess and its memory.

The crystal ball sank heavily in his hands and glimmered darkly, foreboding.

He could bear no more. He hurled it down.

Glass shards sparkled against the flagstones…

John Samuel Anderson lives one nautical mile from the beach and five light-milliseconds from space. When not speculating on human colonization of the stars, he enjoys life on Earth with his wife, seven kids, a cat, and a bunny. See more at twostarshipgarage.wordpress.com.

BILL COX: Karma Will Seek You Out, Though You Ascend the Heavens Themselves!

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Hans watched from the observation deck as the ground fell away.

In his mind he imagined the look on Dieter’s face when he checked their company bank account and found it empty. He grinned with spiteful delight as the Hindenburg rose and began its fateful journey across the Atlantic Ocean.

Bill lives in Aberdeen, Scotland. His parents were time-travellers from the 22nd Century and he knows the result of every single significant sporting event for the next hundred years. Watch out for Soviet Union II winning the 2046 World Cup.

TIM BOITEAU: Insect Karma

Adventure, Amusing, Submissions, , , , , ,

Yosef was the family exterminator. Marie was Buddhist—didn’t want to accumulate bad karma through killing.

A new insect appeared daily. Yosef stomped them, swatted them, drowned them. Crumpled chitin and ichor crowded his nightmares.

When he left for work, Marie scoured the garden for the next victim to plant.

Tim Boiteau lives and writes near Detroit with wife and son. Follow him at @timboiteau.

DAVID LUNN MILBURN: Men Overboard

Adventure, Amusing, Submissions, , ,

It wasn’t my fault. The kid went over the side all by himself. Being an idiot, I went in after him. Hit the water like a sledgehammer; seemed more fun when I tried it as a boy.

Anyway, he didn’t say much while we waited. Just as well. Some cruise.

David is 67 years old and lives in Victoria, B.C. He started writing a year ago and enjoys posting poetry and vss on Twitter as @DavisLunnThe3rd.

KARIN AURINO: Daisy

Adventure, Amusing, Odd, Submissions, , , ,

She loves me… She loves me not.

I visited her at the cemetery, laid daisies at the base of her headstone. Last time I saw her she was across a meadow wearing a sundress. She was within range.

No need to mind the restraining order now.

She loved me not.

Karin Aurino is currently working on poetry, short fiction, and a first novel, which draws on an early career as a fashion model. She got her start in the talent department at ICM and enjoyed a career as a Longform and Series Television Producer. Her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Literary Orphans, r.kv.r.y. quarterly, Agnes and True, and Bacopa Literary Review, and has received recognition from Glimmer Train. Aurino lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two children, and their dog, George. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

DANIEL QUILLEN: Death Sentence

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

Death comes creeping slowly, quietly, closer and closer.

My Priest says not to worry about it, that the pain will only be momentary. But what does he know? He’ll still be alive.

Ever closer the fatal date creeps, until at last it is here.

Time to take my math final.

Daniel Quillen is a retired HR director and a writer (19+ books). He lives in Centennial, Colorado with his wife. They are the parents of six children, grandparents of fifteen. They are currently living in China, teaching English at a Chinese University.

SUSAN GALE WICKES: Harry the Magnificent

Amusing, Submissions, , , , , ,

“Harry the Magnificent” the sign read.

“You’ll be amazed by his magic fingers” it added.

“Oh, please,” I thought. “I’ve never been amazed by any carnival magician.”

The act was boring, bland. Harry’s claims, however, were spot on.

I was amazed to discover my wallet and watch were both missing.

Susan Gale Wickes lives in Indiana. You can find her on Twitter at @SusanGaleWickes.

MAURA YZMORE: Lupus in Fabula

Amusing, Submissions, , , , ,

A girl in a red hood skips along the forest path. A wolf beholds, entranced. His mouth waters.

He never hears two little pigs sneak up.

The pigs drag the unconscious wolf away, discuss rebuilding their flattened homes. They can afford brick now; the girl’s grandma has paid them well.

Maura Yzmore is a Midwest-based writer of short fiction and career nerd. See more at maurayzmore.comstories/ and Twitter: @MauraYzmore.

ROBERTA BEACH JACOBSON: Apartment 317

Amusing, Submissions, , , , , ,

Jane was trapped in a world of low ceilings and high furniture.

At a charity event, she met an avant-garde decorator specializing in purple lighting. She told Jane, “Stand out. Be bold and bright. Shine. No excuses.”

So nowadays Jane lives in a beige cube with powerful splashes of purple.

Roberta Beach Jacobson is a humorist from Iowa / USA. She writes tanshi (short poetry), greeting cards, and flash fiction. See more at RobertaJacobson.com

ANITA ROBERTS SOUPIR: Lucifer

Amusing, Submissions, , , , ,

Unseen eyes watched, sending a chill down my spine. Loathing enveloped me. What had I done to deserve this hatred?

My last thought before Lucifer sunk his claws into my back was that it would be a cold day in Hell before I agreed to feed the neighbor’s cat again.

Anita Roberts Soupir is a wife, mother, photographer & freelance writer. Her work can be seen in: Crack the Spine Literary Magazine and Mused – the BellaOnline Literary Review Magazine, as well as Boston Literary Magazine, Literary Juice, 50 Haikus, 50 Word Stories, and SpeckLit.