We’d dated for a year before I reported him for the serial murder of his exes.
“H-how… did you know?” he rasped, limp in the cuffs.
I leaned forward, whispering against his ear: “Like recognizes like.”
His eyes widened as flashing blue and red lights came to drag him away.
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.
It’s always 6:00, according to my sister’s watch, hands frozen, crystal shattered from the accident. It holds the scent of that last cigarette she smoked. Some days, I think about trying to get it fixed, to let time move forward. But when time moves on, you leave so much behind.
Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA fiction program. His stories, “Soon,” “How To Be A Good Episcopalian,” “Tales From A Communion Line,” and “Community Time,” have been nominated for Pushcarts. Yash’s work has been published in SmokeLong Quarterly, The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, Write City Magazine, and Ariel Chart, among others.
We grab clean socks and shirts, hiding them in secret locations. If one of my eight siblings finds mine, I’m doomed to ragged remains.
The clothesline holds the treasures. Late from school leaves only fuzzy scraps. Here’s where the artful layering of old over faded becomes stylish. I am well-dressed.
DML Meyer is a former mechanical engineering professor who loves the idea of turning the alphabet into stories.
She is seven years old: half the life expectancy of her kind. She’s become depressed and lonely.
Her mistress has arthritis in her throwing arm but wisdom in her old soul—it’s time to call for reinforcement!
Now she has renewed vigor; the light’s returned to her eyes.
Hello, puppy.
Cate Covert hails from sunny Idaho, U.S.A. She has been telling stories since she could talk. She is a gardener and amateur herbalist, plays guitar and piano, and loves baking bread and making beaded jewelry. Most of all, Cate Covert loves to engage her reading and listening audiences. You can read her frequent inspirational writings, poetry, flash fiction, and humorous stories at Cate Covert on Chadashah.org or her Inspirational essays and bible studies at Pastora Cate’s Corner on Substack.
Work in the time of Covid
Renting in the time of inflation
Parenting in the time of bullying
Dating in the time of social media
Dieting in the time of food delivery
Journalism in the time of artificial intelligence
As time goes on, don’t be surprised if clocks melt
Roberta Beach Jacobson is an American poet and author who is drawn to the magic of words – poetry, song lyrics, flash fiction, puzzles, stand-up comedy. Her latest book is Demitasse Fiction: One-Minute Reads for Busy People (Alien Buddha Press, 2023). After spending 38 years in Europe, she relocated to Indianola, Iowa with her husband and three cats.
The story of the week for February 5 to 9 is…
A Puddle on the Bathroom Floor by Nico Calvanico
At the eulogy, he spoke of his daughter’s qualities; her patience; honesty; kindness. Easy claims to make, these abstractions.
But towards the end, he became more specific.
In a voice that wavered, he listed her donations; liver; pancreas; both kidneys.
“Generous to the end,” he said.
“And beyond,” say I.
Always a reader, Thomas Malloch took the opportunity of retirement to try his hand at writing and sometimes he even gets published. Examples of his work can be found in “New Writing Scotland,” “the barcelona review,” “Gutter,” “Ringwood Publishing,” “Bath Flash Fiction,” “Reflex Fiction,” “Fairfield Scribes” and, of course, “50-Word Stories.”
“My ranch stretches farther than the eye can see—it seems to go on forever. That’s why I chose a lemniscate as my cattle brand.”
“A what?”
“The infinity symbol.” He traced a ∞ in the air. “But there’s a problem. Apparently, it’s already been registered as a Lazy Eight.”
John H. Dromey has micro-fiction, flash fiction, and short stories published in over 200 venues.
A whiff of Jasmine, I’m back on spring-break. The sound of rock music, I’m up on my feet. A taste of cocoa, I’m in from the cold. A sliver of moon, my heart skips a beat. A touch of silk, I’m back at the ball. Tiny, unexpected trips—never planned.
A prolific writer, Carol Reeves is loving the freedom and challenge of Flash Fiction. Her stories are found in 50-Word Stories and Flash Fiction Magazine. She often writes of the privilege and vicissitudes of aging. Her memoir, “All the Little Miracles,” was published in 2022.
The old man told the story to anyone who’d listen. “I’d seen some strange things as a fisherman, but nothing like this! A giant fish leapt from the sea, smacked my face with its tail then splashed back in.”
“Codswallop!” someone commented.
“Too big for cod,” the old man said.
Joanne Bowers lives in England and enjoys reading and writing microfiction.