A condescending acquaintance questioned an amateur musician.
“How’d your backyard concert go?”
“Great. The crowd spilled out into the alley.”
“I’ll bet you didn’t receive any material compensation.”
“Actually, I was given a portion of the gate.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I got a couple of boards and one of the hinges.”
John H. Dromey has micro-fiction, flash fiction, and short stories published in about 220 venues.
They gave him a wide berth as he shuffled past them. Not out of respect, but out of fear. Not fear that he would harm them; he seemed innocuous. But as he rummaged through the dumpster, he reminded them of how close they all were to the edge of ruin.
Marinda Kotze lives above a 24/7 supermarket in the inner city of an Eastern European metropolis.
You loved my fool.
The gooseberry bush grew uninvited, yet you took such care of it.
But now you’re gone, I let the thorns etch my skin and hook my flesh.
Yes, you could be prickly at times, but I’d rather you were still here to make me feel alive.
R.H. lives in Nottingham, UK, has several short stories published, and co-founded the Sutton Bonington Campus Creative Writing Group as a staff wellbeing event.
The sun sits pretty and
all of its well-tanned followers
look up and smile, say ahhhh,
and stretch themselves out
on the low-tide sands or on
Grandma’s hand-made picnic quilt
in the high-noon high-grass pasture,
basking and happy.
But everybody
knows this: All the really cool people
worship the moon.
Ron. Lavalette has been widely published in both print and pixel forms. His first chapbook is now available from Finishing Line Press, and a reasonable sample of his work can be found at EGGS OVER TOKYO.
Before his hopeful outing with a visiting former love, the old man buys a new baseball cap. He shapes the bill with care. Looking in the mirror from under the just-so curve, he sees for a clear moment back to the first time he ever felt he looked truly cool.
Lynn Kozlowski’s writing has appeared in such places as 50-Word Stories, The Quarterly, The Malahat Review, Poetry Breakfast, and failbetter.com. He has a volume of short pieces, Historical Markers.
The story of the week for July 1 to 5 is…
Surprise Ending by Bob Thurber
After the fluid was sucked from my brain, other systems crashed. A bag on my leg, helmet on my skull. They said I could forget about walking. And then my sister came in, full of our secrets. “Remember when I taught you how to pick a lock? Pick this one.”
Cheryl Snell lives to tell the tale.
April’s showers were nothing compared to its deluge of awkward compliments on the wig. Fatima washed up on her doorstep, drained from the month’s third chemical assault, and adjusted the monstrosity. The tulips budding in the garden caught her eye, and a smile like the sun broke across her face.
Râna hates writing about herself but loves referring to herself in the third person.
Looking back, not a single one of us would dare question his leadership. However the word “disconcerting” would enter our conversation every so often. What raised the alarm was his constant gibberish about listening to the “inner growl.” It’s too late now that we’ve all been busted by animal control.
Johannes Springenseiss is a world citizen and raconteur. He mostly writes speculative fiction and creative essays, which he has published in various literary magazines.
Growling gleefully. The grill was a cacophonous contradiction at Mr. McCleary’s house. Especially on the fourth. Mike McCleary’s championship celebration. Sophie McCleary’s admission to the Ivy League. Jim and Lainey Mac renewing their vows. Verbal sparring. Political differences. Friends as witnesses and willing participants. Through it all? The neighborhood centerpiece.
Steve Doherty wrote this story.