The story of the week for July 1 to 5 is…
Surprise Ending by Bob Thurber
CHERYL SNELL: Houdini
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.
RÂNA CAMPBELL: May Flowers
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.
JOHANNES SPRINGENSEISS: Focus
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.
STEVE DOHERTY: McCleary’s Grill
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.
JOSHUA MICHAEL STEWART: The Cartoon Character Based On Me
Drawn. Erased. Redrawn. A derby instead of a Stetson. Erased. Redrawn with an eggplant nose, pencil-dot eyes. Eyes erased. Replaced with slashes. A handlebar mustache switched out for a Hitler. Voiced by a heavy-drinking man. Then a heavy-smoking woman. Finally, by a nine-year-old girl. Protagonist. Demoted to background character. Cut.
Joshua Michael Stewart is the author of three poetry collections. His work has appeared in the Massachusetts Review, Salamander, New Flash Fiction Review, and elsewhere.
NICK YOUNG: Time
We measure it by increments—the infinite wheel of the cosmos—eons and ages. The languid traverse of shadow on a sundial. Days spool into memory—weeks into months, months into years. We had all the time in the world… until the blink of an eye and you were gone.
Nick Young is a retired award-winning CBS News Correspondent. In addition to 50-Word Stories, his writing has appeared in dozens of reviews, journals and anthologies. His first novel, “Deadline,” was published in September. He lives outside Chicago.
ROBERT CARLBERG: We Thought We Would Never Get Old
A rocket’s arc, straight up and burned out by 27, emulating our heroes. Fame and fortune and luxurious self-indulgence, because 40 was unimaginable. Yet the fame never came, the fortune either, 40 is gone and now we stare 70 in the mirror and wonder: where did we go wrong?
Robert Carlberg retired as soon as he was able, and now spends his time not doing everything he does not want to do.
ARIANNA SMITH: Looking Back
A year ago, the last ice shelf cracked away from the Antarctic mainland. Online, they pre-eulogized the tidal rhythms, the season cycles, the ocean ecosystem. They set up a countdown.
This week, the iceberg melted. My daughter cried. Why did we try to douse the fire using only our tears?
Arianna Smith lives in California. Her work has appeared in OFIC Mag.
BOB THURBER: Surprise Ending
My date never showed, never texted.
I sat through the entire movie alone.
The boy didn’t get the girl. They went their separate ways.
The end of the movie was the end of the world. The screen faded to black.
There were no credits, no music. The silence felt right.
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.