RICHARD EVANOFF: The Ocean

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

I am a drop of rain moving down the mountain. You are also a drop of rain, finding your own way to the sea. Perhaps we will meet again some day.

The ocean isn’t made of many drops of water; the ocean itself is just one big drop of water.

Richard Evanoff has lived most of his adult life in Japan and been active in literary circles in Tokyo as a writer, editor, and performer. His short stories tend towards surrealism and have been published in Dream International Quarterly, Mind in Motion, The Mythic Circle, and other publications.

CHRISTOPHER GANNON: Confessions Over Pancakes

Amusing, Odd, Submissions, , , ,

Jim pours maple syrup over pancakes before
confessing to his wife he enjoys wearing
leopard panties.

His wife smirks as she reveals a zipper
and unzips her flesh suit from head to groin,
confessing she is a fish with golden scales.

Her glistening tail slaps Jim’s pancakes off the table.

Christopher Gannon is a Storyteller from Buffalo, NY.

MK BEAN: Shaded Dreams

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , , , ,

Some dreams wither under direct gaze.
To nurture them, you must avert your focus;
Set your sights to pastures beyond.

One day, you will greet your blossomed dreams
As you pad gently by at serendipitous crossings–
Appreciated, but destinations no longer.
Removed from the spotlight, they thrive in cool relief.

M. K. Beam is a software developer and roller-derby skater who loves rodents.

CAROL REEVES: Fifteen

Amusing, Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

He was gorgeous, the boy of my dreams. I obsessed over every sighting, every casual word—though seldom meant for me.

And then, one day, he called. “How ’bout a movie,” he said.

“Okay,” I replied. Thump went my heart.

The movie was wonderful. The boy—not so much.

Bummer.

Carol Reeves wrote this story.

TAMMY SMITH: Running Past the Point of No Return

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

Breathless from missing you, I run smack into the middle of an August sunrise. My aching feet pound the hot pavement. Sprint past painful memories. What’s done is done you quip when I beg for a second chance to make things better. Your sigh further stretches the distance between us.

Tammy Smith, a social worker from New Jersey, enjoys running almost as much as writing.

JON BERLIN: Take Care of Your Teeth and They Will Last a Lifetime

Adventure, Artistic, Submissions, , , , , ,

Midwest homicide. Burned blackened sunflower field. Body missing. Large black flies. No dental work; teeth clean as a whistle. Waterpik and floss. Black crows watching. A murder.

Private investigator. Retainer plus mileage, lodging, meals. Big black Buick bypassing back roads, sucking sunbaked blacktop. No GPS. Looking for bar, bed, breakfast.

Jon is a writer and collector of fountain pens and notebooks.

CASEY LAINE: Letting Go

Artistic, Submissions, ,

I can no longer feel your hand in mine.

The spirit releases its clasp on the body, like a dandelion seed from its stem, and away I float.

On the tumult of the air, like a fragrance, intangible, I embrace you. You breathe me in.

It’s like we never parted.

Casey Laine comes from a long line of talkative women. Despite that, she’s an introvert who enjoys spending time alone, reading, writing, walking in the park. In her spare time, she chases butterflies with her camera.

ANNELIESE A BOYD: Fingers and Toes

Amusing, Odd, Submissions, Top Stories, , ,

Even at the age of ten, my daughter still asks me to count her fingers and toes before bed. After I count them aloud, I plant a kiss on her forehead and tell her goodnight.

As she stows the shoebox beneath her bed, I think, “Kids collect the oddest things.”

Anneliese Boyd is an upstate New Yorker, born and raised, who currently finds herself working and residing in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex of North Texas. Her short horror fiction has been featured on the NoSleep Podcast and she was a featured author in Splatter Ink Publishing’s anthology, “Cryptid Carnage”. For more information about Anneliese and her work, visit her website: https://annelieseaboyd.wixsite.com/annelieseaboyd. Check her out on Twitter at @a_a_boyd.

CHRISTA PLANKO: Portrait of a Significant Other

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , ,

Living in a painting, she wore the perfect smile given her—the unblemished flesh, coiled tresses, each precisely locked in place.

Eventually, a crack formed in the rosy paint. She longed for someone to spot the flash of movement through it and observe the sad humanity behind her forced grin.

Christa Planko, MA, is a professional writer with a passion for creative expression. She has had her poetry and short stories featured in several publications, including River Poets Journal, Tanka and Haiku Journal, Poetry Quarterly, and Every Day Fiction. Her story, “The Olde-Tyme Village,” won the 2021 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest. Christa resides in South Jersey with her feline muses. For her bio and list of published works, visit christascorner.godaddysites.com.

ARYAN ILKHANI: The Paradox of Life

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

I often feel ethereal, watching the skyline’s twinkling urban lights. Who am I in the grand calculus of the universe, infinitesimal to supernovas yet elephantine to the bacteria which calls me home? I hold infinite significance within infinite insignificance, a trip through a circle. Who am I? I am us.

Aryan is a Year 12 student in Sydney, Australia with a love for literature and existential philosophy.