MARK REEP: Unsigned

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Distill from Moret’s unfinished sketches
the melancholy of a seaside town in winter:
Lay of her letters from exile a waterstair,
closed souvenir shops, a broken shutter banging.
Near dark now, in an unsigned corner,
a woman struggles with a torn umbrella,
surrenders with a wordless curse
to the wind.

Mark Reep is an artist and writer. His drawings and photographs have hung in galleries, museums, and juried exhibitions in the US and UK for more than thirty years. His work has appeared in publications including American Art Collector, Endicott Journal, Wetcanvas, Metazen, Prick of the Spindle, Blue Fifth Review, A-Minor, Artgraphica, and Postcard Stories. Mark was founding editor of the limited-run quarterly lit & arts journal Ramshackle Review. He lives and works in New York’s Finger Lakes region.

BRIANNE ROBERTSON: Across the Courtyard

Amusing, Submissions, ,

I eat my lunch with a man I shared a glance with across the courtyard: the first interaction I’ve had in a long time.

I name our kids, Julian and Ava. I want an outdoor wedding. No. Indoor. Both? I check up on my husband across the courtyard.

He left.

Aside from choking people for sport, Brianne Robertson–the Jiu Jitsu competitor–enjoys writing short excerpts and poems in her spare time.

AK COTHAM: Mendocino Headlands

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , , ,

The contours of his salty smile are formed by rock, his body by luminescent algae, his spirit from the cornucopia of spray that crashes, sunbound. We visit and he greets us with joyous thunder, my brother, long lost to these depths and long since having forgiven us for failing him.

A.K. Cotham writes fiction and edits nonfiction in Northern California. Other short pieces have been published in CommuterLit, Brilliant Flash Fiction, 101 Words, and Every Day Fiction.

RICHARD SHELLY: Until My Final Breath

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , , ,

Worn eyes reach daylight
Slowly count to ten
Stay still. No movement
Listen for the men

A moment of fragility
Tears down one cheek
But soft cries of “daddy”
Banish feelings so weak

Emerge from the rubble
Of a life we once knew
Together we’ll succeed
And start life anew

Richard has followed 50-Word Stories for a number of years, though generally only writes for himself.

AJ JOSEPH: Luck of the Irish

Amusing, Submissions, , , , ,

He had no choice.

His debts were piling up. His landlord had increased rent; grocery prices were astronomical.

He stepped outside, albeit reluctantly, summoned his rainbow, and dug where it ended. He removed five pieces of gold from the pot, noting sadly that there were fewer each time.

Darn inflation.

AJ Joseph tweets very short stories as @sonobeus.

SUSAN GALE WICKES: Boundaries

Amusing, Submissions, Touching, , ,

A small house.

One closet.

Slowly, my half began infringing on his.

One inch turned into two, then two into five.

He never mentioned it.

Just double-hung his shirts.

Squeezed more things into allotted dresser drawers.

Packed up rarely-worn items for Goodwill.

He called it down-sizing.

I called it love.

Susan Gale Wickes lives in Indiana. In addition to writing and reading short stories, she enjoys cartoon captioning and has won the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest.

RON. LAVALETTE: Backyard Olympics Failure

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

It wasn’t until the final, near-miss horseshoe toss was disputed that things escalated into open warfare. Heavy metal shrapnel flew in almost every direction, none of it intended for its usual targets, all of it meant to send an unmistakably on-target message of protest. Neither team took home the gold.

Ron. Lavalette lives on Vermont’s Canadian border. His poetry, flash fiction, and creative nonfiction has been very widely published in both print and pixel forms. His first chapbook, Fallen Away (Finishing Line Press), is now available at all standard outlets. A reasonable sample of his published works can be found at EGGS OVER TOKYO.

AMY: Manor House Manners

Amusing, Odd, Submissions, , , ,

His eyes devoured the exquisite king suite of their romantic manor house getaway.

A four-poster bed, Victorian ornaments, a grand window framing acres of secluded woodland. Perfection.

Everything, except that old doll.

He threw his jacket over its face. “Sorry doll, but you’re creeping me out.”

“How rude,” it replied.

Amy is a creative writing student from Wales.

JENNIFER M SMITH: Ninety-one

Submissions, Touching, , ,

I visit and find
the sweetness of honey still in the jar
under a lid too tight to open.

I can’t predict what will fail her next,
much as I try.
To prevent it.

Lace-up shoes are cast aside for Crocs.

Hand in hand we shuffle
together
toward shrinking tomorrows.

Jennifer M. Smith is the author of the award-winning book Green Ghost, Blue Ocean. She is a geologist, a chartered accountant, an offshore sailor and a triathlete. Obviously, she can’t sit still. More information and links to other published work can be found on her website at www.jennifermsmith.com.