The story of the week for February 19 to 23 is…
Early Spring by Kai Wang
KAI WANG: Early Spring
In snowfall I always saw two of you outside my window, dancing awkwardly on the icy driveway. You laughed and threw powder into the air, like confetti. New Year’s wishes of warmer mittens, better memories.
This year it was only you I saw, making angels alone as winter melted away.
Kai is an American college student currently on exchange in Chimay, a town in the French part of Belgium. He was inspired to submit a story after learning about the website in his English teacher Mr. Monin’s class.
TIMBRAY SHAFER: Spackle
She smashes things, my daughter. Her toy easel, recently. My electric mixer. The frame for our apartment’s only photo of her father.
She can’t help it.
However angry, I hug her each night, kiss her little forehead, and tell her to sleep. I pray that there, she might find peace.
Timbray loves birds and carousels. He is the author of Spare Mattress and The Rens series, and work found in ARCH and Every Day Fiction.
KIRK BUDHOORAM: Scuffle
Sam’s suspicion shocked Sonia. She said she simply scrubbed Selbert’s striped, stained, soiled, soon-shameful salmon shirt. Suddenly, Sam surprised Sonia, shoving Selbert sideways, scattering silver spoons, salad, soursop, sandwiches, serviettes. Selbert shoved Sam. Sam struck, swept, subdued Selbert. Sonia screamed. Surprisingly, Sam shook Selbert senseless. Selbert surrendered. Sonia simply smiled.
Kirk Budhooram has an MFA in Creative Writing (Fiction) with High Commendation. His new book The Underwater Tunnel and Other Stories is now on sale. He lives happily with his wife who is also a writer, filmmaker, and artist. Follow them on TikTok.
BOB THURBER: Lost At Sea
The widowed captain drank himself into a sorry state. The wind shifted and his life tilted toward the horizon. To right the ship, psychologically speaking, he steered straight for an iceberg, planning to execute a last-minute maneuver known as the bump and run. Rumors of his survival continue to circulate.
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.
THAD DeVASSIE: Partial Collapse
The slow rot of infrastructure always seems sudden upon its revelation. This decay behind skin, tissue, and bone opens space for regret to enter, coupled with the unanswerable – what’s next? – as you wonder whether scaffolding erected for repair is on time or too late, while the foundation continues to tremble.
Thad DeVassie is a writer and artist/painter who creates from the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio. You can find his written and painted works at thaddevassie.com.
BECKY PARKER: Northern Star Dressing
On Sundays, Mama, an Appalachian queen, wore dresses paired with a gaudy necklace, and thick knee high hosiery secured with ribbons. Weekdays were spent barelegged in gingham, with back bent, hauling coal and chasing her brood of eleven. One frosty May, Mama’s spirit illuminated the Northern star, no dress required.
Becky Parker is a Push Cart Prize nominee. Her works are in Spirit Fire Review, Agape Review, Sweety Cat Press, Yellow Mama, Appalachia Bare, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, the Rye Whiskey Review, Pulse, the Green Shoe Sanctuary, Sequoyah Cherokee River Journal, Amaranth Journal, Spire Light, Avocet, Mackenzie’s Publication, Salvation South, Heart of Flesh, Mildred Haun Review, and North Dakota Quarterly. She is the founder of Briar Haus Writes, a literary page.
ROBIN ELLEN BROOKS: Dad
Tomorrow he’ll reach his eighth decade.
He plans to talk catastrophes with his party guests, how we’ll lose power, freeze, starve, run out of gasoline; how will we survive? That’s top of mind when you’re 80. How will I survive?
How will I survive the loss when eventually he doesn’t?
Robin Ellen Brooks is a Seattle-based writer who enjoys creating screenplays, drama and memoir. Follow along on her adventures by receiving her once-monthly newsletter postcards from sparkles here http://tinyurl.com/yef38n5j, and check out her website at robinellenbrooks.weebly.com.
PAUL W REID: Cameras On
Cameras on—students in different worlds, talking to unseen friends, scanning phones for signs of popularity, staring out large, sunny windows.
Daily query—questions anyone? Silence, stares, muted in unison.
Class over—emotionless waves, quick exits, blank screen.
Calendar reminder—next class in 15 minutes, stand, stretch, and sit again.
Paul W. Reid teaches writing at CVTC in Wisconsin.
LESLEY BUNGAY: Wisdom and Folly
The Sage kept the book hidden, the last of its kind, saved from the cull of the Guardians of Knowledge. One day her words would tell the truth. One day her kin would rise again.
By the time her great-grandchildren found the secret panel, the pages had turned to dust.
Lesley Bungay writes short fiction as an antidote to writing and editing novels. Her words are online with Wensum Lit, Paragraph Planet, and 101 Words as well as 50 Word Stories. See more on X, Instagram, and Threads.