The story of the week for September 11 to 15 is…
Blink by Keith J. Powell
MEGAN BELTRAN: She does nothing
“She does nothing.”
According to him, she had done so for years. How easily he dismissed fifty-plus years of marriage, of service. University, children, tenure, moving, a roast chicken every Sunday.
She considered his crooked spine, heard his ragged breath begin to struggle. With an imperceptible smile, she did Nothing.
Megan Beltran is a musician and word-enthusiast living in the San Francisco Bay Area. She loves the redwoods, teaching, and language.
KEITH J POWELL: Blink
At 40,000 feet, our now is ragged, rippling, unmoored. Somehow, somewhere, the past’s been changed. To keep our reality fixed, I must maintain perfect visual contact with the moon — a constant across timelines. Breaking it invites awful transformations. Dystopias. Erasure.
I wake my seatmate. Warn the crew, I plead. Hurry.
Keith J. Powell is co-founder of Your Impossible Voice and has recent or forthcoming work in SoFloPoJo, Heavy Feather Review, BULL, 100 Word Story, and Does it Have Pockets. Find more at www.keithjpowell.com.
VICTOR KREUITER: Halo
The halo arrived when she was twelve. The teasing was merciless. The nuns were furious. In confession, she wept.
She was force-marched through tabernacles and asylums and hospitals and prodded and examined and questioned. The cruelest question: “Why you?”
She disappeared. How does a young woman with a halo disappear?
Victor Kreuiter lives, reads, and writes in the Midwest.
KARLIE B: 20 Candles on a Birthday Cake
You must decide: is growing up a change in the body or a change in the soul? Are you still the same person you always have been, or should you scratch out the face in your childhood photos and sever the few ties you have with the feather-haired, rosy-cheeked child?
Karlie B is a writer and a high school English teacher. Her work is published on various online platforms.
GENE NEWMAN: Separation Anxiety
Stalled at the exact center of the George Washington Bridge.
I can abide the traffic jam and the long delay
but not this painful separation from my wife and children.
They’re in the back seat and stranded in New Jersey
while I’m just over the line and in New York.
Gene Newman was a USAF cryptologist during the Korean War and is a retired engineer and journalist, including stringing for the N.Y. Times, being a crossword puzzle creator for the New York Times and USA Today. That’s it for now unless he gets better on the kazoo.
LISA RABEY: vincent; in the bedroom
Vincent sits stoically on his bed. His hand gingerly touches his left ear, fingers pressing against what was left of his lobe. A bloody knife sits on the table nearby. He inhales deeply; exhales slowly.
There is no pain or sense of loss.
He feels a profound sense of freedom.
Lisa Rabey (she/they) writes a GenXer about town newsletter at amostunreliablenarrator.substack.com. Her favorite Elizabeth Bennet is Keira Knightley. She is at @herioneinabook.
STORY OF THE MONTH: August 2023
The Story of the Month is chosen from the Story of the Week winners announced from the past month.
The finalists for August were:
Monday Morning by Brian Maycock
The Time of Our Lives by Bob Thurber
Bluebottle by Wayne Garry Fife
Imprints by David Lowis
The winner of the August 2023 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…
Monday Morning
JACQUELINE SEABERG: Arizona Territory, 1883
Townsfolk found him bleeding in a gulch, broken bottles of Doctor Curiel’s Cure-All shattered at his feet. He had criss-crossed the country, over mountains and plains, to sell his coca-infused concoction, never visiting the same town or woman twice. There were two things he couldn’t cure: heartbreak and bullet wounds.
Jacqueline Seaberg has published poetry in the Formalist, Light Quarterly and bottle rockets and short stories in Prime Decimals and 101 Words. Find her online at jackieseaberg.com.
VERITY DUNCAN: Thinking Outside the Box
Born of Chaos and Thunder, she shatters traditions. No more prejudice, misogyny, patriarchy. Eliminates “We’ve always done it this way.” Bans corporate speak, especially synergistic ideation.
Fixes climate change and pandemics, too.
In some parallel superhero universe.
With a deep sigh and rude gesture, she joins the daily Teams meeting.
Verity Duncan (she/her) is a quality specialist, gets distracted by stories, drinks flat whites. Her work has previously appeared in 50-Word Stories and is forthcoming elsewhere.