The story of the week for March 25 to 29 is…
Happily Ever After by Susan Gale Wickes
TIM SEVENHUYSEN: New Stars
I found a tunnel
underwater.
Being an exploring sort,
I grabbed my breathing filter and swam through.
When I emerged
I found that I was drifting
in a crystal lake with grassy shores,
where all the stars were new.
It’s perfect;
it’s a paradise.
Tomorrow I’m returning
with my tools.
Tim Sevenhuysen is the creator of FiftyWordStories.com.
DEBORAH TAPPER: Posy
Scratchy – Stinky – she dances around Nana’s sunshiny garden, skipping along sweet-smelling flowerbeds, renaming plants – Shivery – Sickly – confident because Nana’s here and laughing, changing names shared with the vanished girls (Rose – Daisy – Poppy – Lily) who whisper and tap on her window every night.
Nobody heeds childish imagination. Until she vanishes, too.
Deborah writes at an old desk surrounded by five hundred pet bugs.
NAZIA KAMALI: Tango
You slice my heart with your indifference; I burn your soul with my words. Playing like a predator and prey, we prance and growl and scratch and bite. Twirling to the rhythm of our heartbeats, we roar and explode, intertwining our roots.
Amidst this tango of desire, our unravelling begins.
Born and raised in Dehradun, a small valley on the foothills of the Himalayas, Nazia fell in love with writing at a young age. Her work can be read on FemAsia, Rigorous, CafeLit, and other online journals.
CHIDI YOUNG: Poodle of Comfort
Time for our evening walk. I tug. She won’t budge. Not in the mood either. I release her leash, plumping myself onto the sofa. Cuddling the pillow close, tears stream down. My poodle strokes me with her tongue, staring into my eyes as if she’s saying, “Just let him go.”
Chidi Young lives in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. He’s a teacher, photographer, and graphic designer who loves to read and write short stories.
KAREN ROBINSON: A Royal Gift
He lifted the tiny infant from the abandoned basket, thanking the gods for their gracious gift. Dressing him in golden cloth, he ennobled the child, proclaiming him his son and heir. The boy grew tall, strong, and powerfully capable.
But the king, in hopeful desperation, had overlooked the unusual eyes.
Karen Robinson is a flash fiction and poetry scribbler living by the sea in Devon, England.
KARTTIKA MUTHU: Midnight
“He’s following me!” she cried, pleading him to take her side.
“Where’s your medication, honey?” he begged, hugging her frame close.
Her face fell. “You don’t believe me.”
I crouched down by the stairs, watching silently as dad tried convincing mom the three-headed man in front our fireplace wasn’t real.
Karttika writes mystery and fantasy with every spare time she could get.
BRIAN MAYCOCK: Standing In Line
A single step forward ripples through the queue. I joined it long ago and it’s grown until now the queue is all I can see.
I dream of reaching the front. Where waits…
I never knew. But I can’t give up. I’ve come too far and nowhere near far enough.
Brian Maycock’s stories have appeared most recently on the NoSleep Podcast and Tales from the Breakroom. He’s in Cornwall.
KELLI SHORT BORGES: Falling
The lovers ascend swiftly, hearts pulsing with each foothold. She always yearned to climb—swing from branches thick with foliage, apple-blossomed in spring. Now they sway, unsteady, on a winter limb. Only then does she remember the problem with descent. Remembers she has never known how to get herself un-treed.
Kelli Short Borges writes from her home in Phoenix, Arizona, where her family has lived for six generations. Her stories have won contests and been nominated for multiple awards. She is currently working on her first novel. You can connect with her at Kellishortborges.com.
SUSAN GALE WICKES: Happily Ever After
She had high hopes.
Prince Charming was unavoidably detained.
The glass slipper would eventually fit.
Her castle was somewhere, waiting, high on a hill.
Day after day, she read the story.
Day after day, she waited.
Disguised as an imperfect but glorious life, her happily ever after passed her by.
Susan Gale Wickes is a writer from Indiana. She enjoys writing short stories and greeting card verses and the joy of cartoon captioning.