The story of the week for December 15 to 19 is…
Perfection by J Hess
MIKE SHIELDS: Breaking Old Habits
Stumbling through the front door, he removed his shoes before shuffling to the hall powder room where he would make best efforts to wash away telltale remnants of the evening, before slowly climbing the creaking stairs and cautiously slipping beneath the covers.He exhaled slowly.
The empty bed whispered “Goodbye”.
Mike Shields is a writer, speaker, observer, and reasonably good listener.
MAKENA HELMS: Monument
I drove past a billboard somewhere in Alabama. It had a man’s name on it. Not the name of a lawyer or real estate agent: just Alan. Written in red spray paint across rotting plywood and framed by faded pictures of fishing. I don’t know Alan. But clearly someone did.
Makena Helms is a recent BFA graduate and longtime creator of random scenarios inside her head. Besides writing, she also enjoys devouring the incredible work of others and spending time with her dog.
RITA RIEBEL MITCHELL: An Abrupt End
Life is not a game. I don’t roll dice and hop from square to square collecting money to buy houses and hotels like my sister, Jane. For me, bankruptcy lurks around every corner.
It’s my turn. If I pass go or land in jail, Jane wins.
I flip the board.
Rita Riebel Mitchell writes in the Pinelands of South Jersey where she lives amongst the trees with her husband. Her work appears in HAD, Flash Fiction Magazine, Versification, and more. Find her at ritariebelmitchell.com/friday-micro.
STEVE SAULSBURY: Old Soul
Eager to get some beer, we stopped at Matt’s; he never gets carded. The obligatory awkwardness, greeting his folks in their soft chairs. The thermostat’s up too high, and they smile warmly, unsuspecting.
One of us usually ends up puking.
Lulled by the murmuring TV, I imagine staying, not drinking.
Steve Saulsbury writes best when prompted. He is the author of the chapbook, “Wildlife Study” (Bottlecap Press, 2025).
NELLIE MUNRO: Honey, Sugar, Daddy
Ever since you licked the sugar-coated rim of the life you could have had, you’ve groped your way back towards its sticky, illicit core.
It doesn’t matter that it’s not yours to have and to hold.
Stolen honey still tastes like honey.
Only this sugar high comes with a high price.
Nellie Munro is a Scottish Author living in America with her husband and two dogs. She writes content for a cybersecurity blog by day, and by night, is working on her debut novel, Dying Tides. See more at nelliemunro.com.
MARC SIMON: Photographic Memory
Years ago, I knew a skinny hippy we called Click, because he took photos with a film camera without any film. When I asked why, he tapped his temple. “They’re all in here, man.” Even now, I can see Click in my head, clear as day. Guess he was right.
One of Marc’s short stories, The Violin, first published in Thin-Skin, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
MARIE ANNE ARREOLA: Blockbuster
Fog held the trees as my father’s hand slipped from mine, a soft rite of passage. Blockbuster glowed like a borrowed cosmos, aisles humming with other lives. At home, the screen loosened the world’s weight for a while. We watched together, knowing wonder, like time, arrives briefly, then asks to be returned.
Marie Anne Arreola is a bilingual poet and editor whose work lives at the intersection of speculative lyric, digital culture, and diaspora memory. She is a 2025 Pushcart Prize Nominee, author of Sparks of the Liberating Spirit Who Trapped Us (Foreshore Publishing, UK), winner of the Plumas en Ciernes Short Story Prize, and founding editor of VOCES, a bilingual platform for global artists and writers. Her work appears in over 40 literary journals across the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. She is a two-time finalist for the Francisco Ruiz Udiel Latin American Poetry Prize (V and VI editions) from Valparaíso Ediciones, and a recipient of the 2024 Young Poets Scholarship awarded by the Gutiérrez Lozano Foundation.
J HESS: Perfection
“Your mom is perfect,” they say. Successful career, volunteers at school, gets along with everyone. Shuttles me to soccer practice, piano recitals, and Model UN. Monitors screen time, dictates my schedule, chooses my friends. Tells me: work hard, failure is not an option, eat healthy, make her proud. Demands perfection.
J. Hess enjoys traveling, reading, and writing flash fiction and creative nonfiction.
JOE PEARSON: Chinatown Nativity
It’s a sweet and sour silent night. Like New York Jews, we follow wonton stars. Three Kings sing Blue Christmas on the open mic. Waiters shepherd crispy ducks onto paper tablecloths. Soon there’ll be a baby born, but tonight your eyes are neon signs leading me out of the dark.
Joe Pearson is a British fiction writer living in Paris. He always leaves dim sum for Santa. You can find more of his writing at joepearsonwriter.com.