The story of the week for August 8 to 12 was…
Life Outside Boxes by Toshihisa Nikaido
HILLARY LYON: Brass, Blood, and Gold
Sinuous smoke curled from the hot brass muzzle. The assassin lifted her costume eye-patch to make sure her quarry was dead. Satisfied, she tossed her grappling hook, then scampered to the rooftop, dreaming of her reward: a handful of untraceable gold nuggets. Real shame her long-time lover was the target.
Hillary founded and for 20 years acted as senior editor for the independent poetry publisher, Subsynchronous Press. Her short stories, drabbles, and poems have appeared in numerous print and online publications. Hillary also creates illustrations for horror/sci-fi, and pulp fiction sites. See more at hillarylyon.wordpress.com.
TONY COVATTA: Out
Breakfast out. No kids, no Margie. Juice, toast, eggs, bacon popping on the griddle.
Phone rings. My buddy, Jack: “Doc says bad ticker, Charlie. Six months, maybe less.”
“That’s horrible. We need to talk. I’ll call you back in one hour.”
“Margie, let me take the kids to school today.”
Tony Covatta wrote this story.
PAUL LAMAR: Sound Bites
Her mother’s squawking police scanner on the kitchen counter, 24/7. Her sister Connie’s stereo blasting The Doors. The shouting.
The clack-clack-clacking printing presses for 32 years, the baby cries, the shouting, the haranguing phone calls, the subway trains all night along the El.
Now the monitor’s constant beep beep beep…
Paul Lamar has a poem forthcoming in San Pedro River Review and an essay in riddlebird magazine.
SANTOSH KALWAR: She is an Earthquake
Seeded in the gloaming darkness beneath a Nepalese mountain lies an age-old woman. She is a colossus who cannot move. The weight of rock bears down on every piece of her. Sometimes she calls for help, but the little people in Nepal hear only a rumbling mountain and grow frightened.
Santosh Kalwar is author of several books. For more info, please visit http://kalwar.com.np.
TOSHIHISA NIKAIDO: Life Outside Boxes
Glancing over her room, Itsumi wondered if it was too late. Her entire life, fifty-three years, fit into sixteen midsized cardboard boxes. She didn’t believe her life would have been better with more boxes; she merely noticed that no one was there to help carry them to the donation center.
Toshihisa Nikaido worked on popular video game series such as Resident Evil, Pokémon, and The Legend of Zelda. Toshihisa more recently joined Japan’s space exploration agency for a completely new challenge while using various forms of writing as a creative outlet and has since been published in several literary journals.
HENRY BLADON: You Wait
You wait for them to smile, as you wait for sleep through the night.
You wait for first words, as you wait for them to walk.
You wait for preschool, college, graduation, job.
All that waiting takes its toll.
Until you look about one morning and realise that they’ve gone.
Henry is a poet from Somerset in the UK. His work has appeared previously in 50WS.
DAVE MYERS: The Rings on her Fingers
For decades only one ring adorned her fingers, a symbol of their commitment.
At some point she decided to wear an additional ring on the opposite hand, a simple band.
Then, another, gaudier…
Nowadays he scans her hands as if trying to pick out a familiar face from a crowd.
Dave Myers (he/him) lives and teaches in Bend, Oregon.
RAN WALKER: Able to Leap Tall Insecurities in a Single Bound
She’d been able to fly for quite some time now. She no longer needed to run before take off and didn’t require props like capes either. Still, she kept this secret to herself. Her boyfriend was already insecure that she made more money than he. This certainly wouldn’t help matters.
Ran Walker is the author of 26 books, the most recent of which is BLACK MARKER: A Novel in 100-Word Stories. He teaches at Hampton University in Virginia.
EMMA SLOAN: Second Star to the Right
we stay up
discussing wendy darling
’til our mouths go soft;
outside, the moon presses
against the windowpane
like a rib, mid-exhale.
“was adulthood
ever a choice?”
we dot a spine of stars
from our overhang
to the clouds–
the second star hangs
to the right, blinking
like a satellite.
Emma Sloan is a Canadian poet, flash fiction writer, and journalist. Her works have been featured in publications such as The Huffington Post and The Good Men Project. Head to weewriter.ca for writing updates and news.