The story of the week for February 7 to 11 is…
Gift From the Sea by Giulietta Nardone
TOM THRUN: The Greatest Love
My folks, per Tom Brokaw, were of The Greatest Generation. Raised in The Great Depression. Married in 1944. Farmed. Saved everything, always and forever.
Decades now since their passing, I’m still going through boxes. I never saw them kiss, but was not surprised to find… They saved each other’s Valentines.
Tom Thrun, a retired weekly newspaper editor in Wisconsin and Washington State, resides with his wife in Oconomowoc, WI. He is an incurable romantic, known to stay up late for Hallmark movies and reruns of Tom and Meg in Sleepless in Seattle, his red farmer handkerchief ready.
DAN WELSH: Intertia
He winked at her as he took to the stage. Forcing a smile, she wondered how many more times she could bare this rendition. By the second chorus, he’d traversed the bar and was on one knee before her. Drunkards cheered her nods and tears, oblivious to her blossoming regret.
Dan Welsh is an educator and writer from Manchester, UK.
ELISA BERNARDINO: The Beach
The sun sets low on the horizon. The fisherman rows his boat. The lamp he carries sways. The light of sun, sea, and earth is dazzlingly magnificent.
The boatman casts his net. You aim at your perfect Instagram picture: the boatman’s harsh reality.
You sip your Mimosa on the beach.
Ma. Elisa Bernardino wrote this story.
GIULIETTA NARDONE: Gift From the Sea
“Go ahead and open it,” he said.
Inside the damp, sand-covered box lay a quivering starfish.
“Place it in the palm of your hand and make a wish.”
She followed his instructions then tossed it back into the sea.
“Why did you do that?”
“I wished for it to live.”
Giulietta Nardone is the author of Feel More Alive! 30 Brilliant Ways To Reignite Your Inner Spark.
MICHELLE WILSON: Hoarder: S8, E5
“There’s safety in things,” the therapist explains, noting mile-high clothing, bric-a-brac, and boxes. “They won’t abandon you like the husband who vanished eight years ago. You’re filling the void with objects that can’t love you.”
But he’s wrong. The thing in the basement corner loves me.
When I feed him.
Michelle Wilson’s words have appeared or are forthcoming in Potato Soup Journal’s Best of 2021 Anthology, Rejection Letters, Maudlin House, Litro Magazine, The Drabble, 50-Word Stories, Literally Stories, Flash Fiction Magazine, and Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood, among others. She lives in Miami Beach, Florida.
LINDA JENKINSON: The Dog Walker
I see her those early mornings whenever I can’t get back to sleep. On blustery winter days she rushes past wearing heavy layers, propelled by dogs on leashes. Swift, still fit and on a mission.
When she turns the corner, I amble down the hall and turn up the heat.
Linda Jenkinson writes flash fiction, fast poetry, and 50-word stories, but is decidedly slowing down.
MAJOKI: this season since
a fresh grave next to yours
preparation for a new sadness
dusting snow from your marker
placing a candy cane wreath,
once festive, looking forced now
a step back into the bitter cold
of December, not Christmas
another goodbye in your last year
still living the “since”
of this season
Majoki has been writing flash fiction for a few years and recently started posting his work on his website, faroutposts.com. He has also begun submitting some of his work and has had a few pieces published on 365 Tomorrows and Free Flash Fiction.
GENE NEWMAN: The Old Man and the Lake
Me and the Fin, my five-dollar boat
row round the lake, just barely afloat.
My gear’s the best on the sporting goods shelf;
My worms so inviting, I could eat them myself.
I bait and I cast. I watch and I wait
but nary a fish volunteers for my plate.
Gene Newman is a retired old guy (90 yrs) and former New Jersey journalist and columnist. Read more at GeneNewmanImagineThat.com.
LAUREN SCHARHAG: Sinew
He killed the deer and gutted it. No part wasted: meat to nourish his body; fur and tanned hides to clothe him; sinew thread to bind it all together.
He’d come to the forest to confront his demons. Sometimes it’s better to become the demon.
He donned the skull mask.
Lauren Scharhag (she/her) is an associate editor for GLEAM: Journal of the Cadralor, and the author of thirteen books, including Our Miss Engel and The Order of the Four Sons series (with Coyote Kishpaugh). Her work has appeared in over 150 literary venues around the world. She is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Seamus Burns Creative Writing Prize and a fellowship from Rockhurst University for fiction. Her work has also been nominated for multiple Best of the Net and Pushcart Prizes. She lives in Kansas City, MO. See more at laurenscharhag.blogspot.com.