DOUG LANE: Fees Waived For Persons In Imminent Danger

Adventure, Submissions, , ,

Witnesses said Lena jumped. Her husband cried fake. He paid. I investigated. Frozen river–no boats or breaks in the ice. Tailing Lena’s sister paid off. Once found, Lena begged. Showed me bruises. Offered fifty grand to unsee her. I drove her to Greyhound instead. Hubby’s payment bought her ticket.

Doug Lane’s work has appeared online and in print at Abyss & Apex, Pulp Modern, The Saturday Evening Post, and others. He writes, works, and lives in Salem, OR with his wife and their feline overlord, Buster. He maintains a small but sincere pumpkin patch on Facebook (DougLaneWrites) and a vacation destination at douglasjlane.com.

MARILYN McFARLANE: Shade or Sun?

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Flowering currant, bleeding heart and shy violets, her favorites, shade lovers all, quietly blooming in the corner.

Some flowers wither in bright light, she said. Don’t push me into blazing sun. Maybe next time I’ll fool you and come back as a brassy sunflower. The show-off you thought you wanted.

Marilyn McFarlane is a travel writer and the author of Sacred Stories: Wisdom From World Religions. She writes poetry and fiction, enjoys the 50-word form, and occasionally explores memoir. She lives in Oregon, where there is a lot of scope for the imagination.

SANTOSH KALWAR: The Singer

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

Laxmi takes a deep breath and pulls back the velvet curtains. She closes her eyes and sings; her powerful voice rings loud and clear, echoing in the hall. Then, to thunderous applause, she bows.

Afterwards, she opens the microphone with a sigh, pours shampoo, and begins to wash her hair.

Santosh Kalwar works as a poet, writer and researcher. He is the author of 26 books, including Quote Me Everyday. For more info, please visit kalwar.com.np.

EILEEN MARDRES: They Should Have Stayed Home

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

A world lit up in blue and yellow,

Sunflowers carried away in a Russian stream of red,

young boys, unprepared, so sad, bewildered by the sea of ordinary people saying, “Go home”.

Songs of the 60’s permeate the air.

What if they did hold a war, but no one came?

Eileen shares in the world’s heartbreak.

KATE E LORE: #dance

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

They spent a week deciding the dance, practicing it. Spent hours on wardrobe. The song choice was a long deliberation. There were arguments. Filming took thirty takes. Again and again and again. Post it. Hash tag you’re it. But they weren’t. It was a viral disease they just couldn’t catch.

Kate E. Lore is a queer, neurodivergent, femme she/her, born into a lower class/low income family, via a divorced, widowed, single mother of four. Under the pen name Kate E. Lore she has had a handful of short stories and nonfiction essays published with various literary magazines.

ANDREA DAMIC: Missing

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

Another one is missing. They have looked everywhere but to no avail. Last month was easier. It was found next to the unicorn slippers. The month before that, she stepped on it.

Despite all our gained experience around detecting infinitesimal objects, this time around the Tooth Fairy might not visit.

Andrea Damic lives in Sydney, Australia. She has been published in 50-Word Stories and Friday Flash Fiction. You can find her on Twitter @DamicAndrea. One day she hopes to finish and publish her novel.

CINDY CHERRY: Kayaking

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , ,

We paddle backwards
cattails / fluff blowing
asking every question /
a test.
There is dark knowing in these questions /
swallows us whole.
Silver fish know and leap.
frogs hear distant darkness / stop mid-croak
dragonfly lands on my knee /
requiring nothing…
of me.
we are broken backward /
answering is
our second chance.

Cindy Cherry grew up in Northern Mexico and the Southwest. She writes poems and stories in her head, while walking a labyrinth with her two dogs. She also loves her job working with blind infants; teaching them new ways to “see.”

STORY OF THE MONTH: February 2022

News

The Story of the Month is chosen from the Story of the Week winners announced from the past month.

The finalists for February were:

Not Yet by Rebecca Cuthbert
Gift From the Sea by Giulietta Nardone
A Child Overhears by Larina Warnock
Quiet Time by Chris Millis

The winner of the February 2022 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…

A Child Overhears

Larina crafted a character and an affect that resonates all too painfully, hopefully inviting us to make a positive difference for real-life “characters” like these.

STORY OF THE MONTH: January 2022

News

Embarrassingly, I seem to have forgotten to select a Story of the Month for January, so here it is, over a month late!

The Story of the Month is chosen from the Story of the Week winners announced from the past month.

The finalists for January were:

Point Price by Salman Ansari
Aging Children I Am One by Laura C. Alonso
A Lesson In Botany by Jenna Manley
Cherry Blossom by Tim Boiteau
Hurt is Homeless by John Lovell
After My Mother’s Stroke, My Parents Refuse Assisted Living by Jennifer L. Freed
Ripples (Another Misadventure of the Broken Boys) by Bob Thurber

The winner of the January 2022 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…

Cherry Blossom

I think the thread of comments on this story does an excellent job of laying out its merits, so I invite you to read those (and contribute comments on daily stories, in general!).