“Grandma will be so happy to see you!”
Hair neatly combed. Seatbelt clicked. Forehead kissed. Every few miles asking, “Are we close?!” His eyes brightened with the anticipation of delivering his homemade card.
When he arrived, her joy echoed down the nursing home hallway.
“Happy 53rd Anniversary, Edna, my darling!”
Lisa Chambers is a Texas girl embracing family with this story.
She’s always self-examining, interrogating herself, keeping key questions in mind, constantly observing the movement of those deliberations, sometimes whispering, scarcely moving her lips, speaking just loud enough to hear the echoing hum, as mind inquires of thought: who is speaking, who sent you, what is it you wish to know?
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.
you in the covers
swollen legs
that remember rugby fields
still now
you lying awake in the
hum of your own ticking
clock
planning each word
left to say
What matters now
isn’t who you wake up next to
but who hears
these
last stories
and takes them
home again
Meghan is old and young all at once. She is an educator and a mother and a friend of many trees.
The story of the week for March 20 to 24 is…
Porch Pirate by Susan Gale Wickes
“That’s him!” Bernice Bearnaise said. “He held up the convenience store!”
Police Sketch Artist Nib Sienna looked at his just completed drawing. Tall pointy hat. Long white beard. Chubby cheeks and bulbous nose. More like garden statuary.
“You’re absolutely certain?” Nib asked.
“Positive,” Bernice said. “There’s no face like gnome!”
Lee Hammerschmidt is a Visual Artist/Writer/Troubadour. He is the author of the short story collections A Hole Of My Own, It’s Noir O’clock Somewhere, For Richer or Noirer, and Flash Wounds. Check out his hit parade on YouTube!
The Ichthyander Project of Lord Haist was an utter failure. Both the dismissal of his Supreme Council as well as the failure to grow the gills foretold in the Triton Prophesy despite his years-long diet of annelid worms and marine snails earned him the unfortunate nickname of Slimy Marine Muncher.
Yoho Gabry is a medical student who writes fiction as a hobby. He likes science fiction, fantasy, horror and romance.
Young Gloria wrote stories while her dad Bob played the trumpet. His music did not feed her; dinner was plastic-cheese on white bread. Every day.
Older Gloria still writes, now eats brie on a baguette for breakfast, while her lover Stanley plays the trumpet. His music feeds her. Every day.
Amanda Le Rougetel doesn’t mind being short and really likes writing short-form stories. She blogs at fiveyearsawriter.blogspot.com and teaches through writingastool.ca.
A thousand year-old gnarled and twisted olive tree stands on the Mediterranean hilltop, symbolizing friendship and peace. A silent witness to the rise and fall of empires and civilizations, she extends her olive branches. Reaching, her silvery green leaves rustle in the wind, sending whispers of hope, gestures of peace.
Ilona Rapin is addicted to the curiosity and excitement of wandering the world which inspires her to write short stories about her impressions.
My sister urges me to collect weevils, their tentacles becoming a curio for hands that would otherwise be a cataract of tremors. She herself creates an origami butterfly, a succinct subject of focus, while we are metamorphosed into raccoons in this attic, fleeing parents who have transformed into bickering bellbirds.
Frank Njugi is a Kenyan Writer and poet who primarily writes poetry and short fiction. He tweets as @franknjugi and you can find his published works at https://linktr.ee/Frank_njugi.
Bob prided himself in avoiding video surveillance.
Perused the premises prior to approaching any property.
He took great pains to assemble original and creative disguises.
And then: he just opened the packages and left them on the porch.
He didn’t consider himself a thief… Just a man who loved surprises.
Susan Gale Wickes is a writer from Indiana. In addition to writing short stories, she writes greeting card verses and enjoys the fun of cartoon captioning.