JOHN SLOAN: Marooned in the Moon’s Forever Dust

Adventure, Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Odd, elongated footprints lead from the derelict mushroom-shaped lander to you. Blue and white Earth shines in the black sky above where you sit, back against a boulder. Eyes with cross-slit pupils remain open behind a dust-filmed faceplate. Did you die here watching your world burn 66 million years ago?

John Sloan has been a writer in London, Ontario, Canada, for 40 years, mainly as a journalist, columnist, and technology analyst. He chose this path due to Lou Grant, a degree in journalism, and a need to eat. Sloan lives neither in a rambling Victorian house nor in a cozy flat. He does not own a cat.

MIKE KEYSER: He Alone Sees

Submissions, Touching, , ,

His wife had gone, he had stayed, neither by choice.
I watched him walk toward a place only he could see, more distant each day.
Photos fade before dimming eyes, music falls flat to distant ears. Further he walked.
Today he followed as she took his hand across the horizon.

Mike Keyser writes microfiction while working on his novel.

GABRIEL TIGAY: Soup

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Ken was the type of man so quick to point a finger that when he discovered a hair swimming in his pot of lentil soup, his head snapped up accusingly. “Hey!” he yelped. In the kitchen window, his reflection stared back. For once, here was someone deserving of his contempt.

Gabriel Tigay lives in New York City.

KEN GOSSE: Climbing Boulders

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , ,

Treading on the toes of giants
in attempts to reach a shoulder
where the air is clear, suppliance
lifts me up as I grow bolder.

Yet I know that my reliance
on the thoughts that they have shared
guides my muses, their suppliants,
with the thoughts that we have aired.

Ken Gosse usually writes whimsical, rhymed verse. First published in First Literary Review–East in November 2016, later in Pure Slush, Home Planet News, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Spillwords, and many others. Raised in Chicago suburbs, now retired, he and his wife live in Mesa, AZ, with rescue dogs and cats.

JOHN H. DROMEY: Once a Spoiled Brat…

Amusing, Submissions, ,

“Marjorie’s privileged upbringing—accustomed to being waited on hand and foot—makes it difficult for her to adjust to working in this antiquated office building.”

“In what way?”

“Well, just this morning, she was stuck in an elevator for twenty minutes waiting for somebody to open the door for her.”

John H. Dromey has had short fiction, humor, and poetry published in hundreds of venues.

CAROL HUEBSCH REEVES: Together Again

Submissions, Touching, , ,

A buzz of good humor hangs in the air, filling my now empty rooms. The walls still reverberate with thrice-told tales and leftover laughter. Each beloved guest adds unique gifts to the crazy quilt of our family. I wonder—do they feel the comfort I feel from the lingering warmth?

Carol Huebsch Reeves embraces the freedom and creativity of Flash Fiction. Most of her stories speak to life’s joys and challenges. Her work is often found in Flash Fiction Magazine and 50 Word Stories. Her memoir, “All the Little Miracles,” was published in 2022.

LIAM MacDONALD: Haunted by Uninvited Guests

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, ,

Ghosts constantly visit me, whispering to me about the past.

Family members who have passed on. Friends who have fallen out of touch. Former lovers who haven’t called in years.

Worst of all is the ghost of the man I should have become. He torments me with every waking breath.

A recovering lawyer, Liam MacDonald is constantly pestered by the ghosts of stories he intends to write. At least this one will stop whispering to him now.

KIP KNOTT: Memento Mori

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , ,

Your absence claims your place on the couch across from me. It reads quietly for hours, just as you used to do before you left. And just like you, it peeks over its shoulder from time to time to make sure I’m still here and haven’t decided to join you.

Kip Knott is a writer, photographer, and part-time art dealer living in Ohio. His writing has recently appeared in Best Microfiction 2024 and The Wigleaf Top 50. His new book of stories, Family Haunts, is available from Louisiana Literature Press.

MARIA CARGILLE: Your Certainty She Lets Fall

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Leaving, she holds nothing likely to bring her back. My work, myself, nothing is enough.

She pauses at my door.

“If you’d like,” she says, abrupt, staring straight ahead. “I’ll bring something with me next time. Poetry. Probably.”

And then she’s gone, leaving only that tenuous wisp of next time.

Maria Cargille wrote this story. Her days have been frigid, but frequently limned with wonder.