SETH PILEVSKY: No Words Needed

Submissions, Touching, , ,

I hear the beeping of the machine, the sands of my hourglass running thin. I can’t communicate.

“Talk to him,” the nurse urges.

“Are you in pain, Grandpa?” Aaron asks, watching me gently move my hand over my chest.

No, I think, hand over my heart. I’m just loving you.

Seth Pilevsky’s work has appeared in What Doesn’t Kill You, a YA anthology published by Indomita Press, Maelstrom, The Inner Circle Writers’ Group Literary Anthology 2019, Identity Anthology by ArrowHeart Publishing, Tales of the Strange Anthology by The Writer’s Workout, Stinkwaves Magazine, Long Island Literary Journal, Literally Stories, 50-Word Stories and Memoir Magazine. Sign up for updates at his website, spilevsky.com.

DEBORAH TAPPER: Way of the Warrior

Adventure, Poetry, Submissions, , , ,

She dips the brush, composes a haiku.

“Cherry blossom weeps,
Bitter winter wind laments—
Fierce hearts do neither.”

Compliant wives conform. But she’d rather confront her treacherous husband on the battlefield, beneath snapping crimson skies.

“Wielding Father’s sword—
Scarlet camellias bleeding
From my ink-black hair.”

Victory—like justice—is poetic.

Deborah writes at an old desk surrounded by five hundred pet bugs.

RAN WALKER: Ice Cream

Artistic, Submissions, ,

He is tempted to lick the ice cream running down his fingers from an overstuffed waffle cone, but he has been taught that that kind of thing is in poor taste, so he watches it drip from his fingers to the ground, where, clearly, it cannot be enjoyed by anyone.

Ran Walker is an award-winning author of over 30 books and the creator of the 100 x 100 micro novel. He teaches creative writing and lives in Virginia with his wife and daughter.

CHELSEA ALLEN: The Way You Look Tonight

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Frank Sinatra’s voice coats the snowy night as I contemplate turning off the radio.

“Not going to dance?” you ask, not smiling, because I can’t remember anymore how your lips eased into your lopsided smile.

I’ll blink and you’ll disappear, I know.

But before that, you are here, aren’t you?

Chelsea Allen is in love with people and things past, mostly. Her work can be found at msha.ke/lakehouseporch/#links. Follow Chelsea on Twitter at @ChelseaAllen03

CELINE GRACE: All the Time in the World

Submissions, Touching, ,

He guided her fragile, bone-thin hands to the strings. Helped her pluck a tune over the beeping monitors. Hummed her their lullaby. “You’ll have to teach me properly, love. Later.” She whispered the impossibility, leaning into him, comforting. The tune faltered, his voice broke, hands stilled. She smelled of forget-me-nots.

Celine Grace is a young writer obsessed with the mystery of ideas and is learning how to use marks on a page to tell them.

STORY OF THE MONTH: March 2024

News

EDITOR: I just discovered that I hadn’t selected/announced a Story of the Month for a few months in a row, somehow! Apologies for the mistake and the very late selections!

The Story of the Month is chosen from the Story of the Week winners announced from the past month.

The finalists for March were:

The Keen Gardener by Deborah Tapper
We Have Always Played With the Faceless Doll by Joel O’Flaherty
Widowhood @ 72 by Shoshauna Shy
The Monument by Ron Scully
Sólarkaffi by Râna Campbell
Happily Ever After by Susan Gale Wickes

The winner of the March 2024 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…

The Monument

Editor: What a strong month! In other months, I could easily have chosen We Have Always Played with the Faceless Doll or The Keen Gardener as a story of the month, but I landed on The Monument because of its layering and strength of delivery. Well done to all of these authors!

BOB THURBER: The Glassblower’s Son

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

The boy fashioned a tiny bird with arched wings.
Twists and swirls in the glass resembled feathers.
He placed the bird in his father’s calloused hands.
The old man, who was blind, held the bird without looking.
He pressed two fingers to the glass, as though feeling for a pulse.

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.

KEN GOSSE: Try to Remember in Coldest December

Amusing, Poetry, Submissions, , ,

To remember new words every week
is a small task for any word geek,
but as I get older
my bloodstream gets colder,
my brain starts to leak
and words start to sound Greek.
With no paddle to shoulder,
my thinking will molder
as I drift downstream in this creek.

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.

STORY OF THE MONTH: February 2024

News, Stories

EDITOR: I just discovered that I hadn’t selected/announced a Story of the Month for a few months in a row, somehow! Apologies for the mistake and the very late selections!

The Story of the Month is chosen from the Story of the Week winners announced from the past month.

The finalists for February were:

Time is No Thief by Chelsea Utecht
Early Spring by Kai Wang
Out with the Old, In with the New by Carol Tymann
A Puddle on the Bathroom Floor by Nico Calvanico

The winner of the February 2024 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…

Out with the Old, In with the New