ROBERT DUSTMAN: Goodbye, My Love

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

The doctor took John’s wife aside. In a comforting voice, he told her John was nearing the end. His cancer had returned and spread to every organ in his body. The wife sobbed on the doctor’s shoulder. She summoned the courage to hold her husband’s hand and kiss him goodbye.

Robert (Bob) Dustman was Oakland County Executive (Michigan) L. Brooks Patterson’s chief spokesman and Director of Media & Communications for seventeen years. Mr. Dustman also enjoyed a distinguished and successful twenty-five year career as a radio and television broadcast journalist in Michigan. After retiring in 2009, Mr. Dustman wrote 3 books that were published and served as a free-lance public relations consultant.

TERRI DELANEY: Life’s Blessings

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, ,

If you’re lucky enough to have a close-knit family, loyal and true friends, to be genuinely happy being you, to love and be loved, to have dreams come true, and have endless amounts of frozen chocolate candy kisses and hot cheesy pizzas, then you, my friend, are blessed beyond compare.

Terri has published her first book, “Three Little Words to Look at Things Differently”. She lives in Bucks County, PA with her “Hubbles” and their “Fat and Fabulous Calico – Gracie Girl”. She’s working on other writing projects so stay tuned!

PETER BLAU: Hiding in Plain Sight

Artistic, Submissions, ,

She’s huddled at a corner table in the dark bar.
A jazz band is playing.
She lights a cigarette and sips her drink.

Designer sunglasses hide a black eye.
Lipstick covers bruised lips.

She’s a striking presence in designer attire,
but wealth and status can’t protect her from angry fists.

Peter Blau works in Minnesota’s Twin Cities in a variety of settings. He believes everyone has a story to tell. His goal is to help people discover their unique voice and style as they tell those stories with their writing. Peter believes that writing is more than just a means to an end; it is the end in itself.

GARY PAUL BALLARD: Capers

Amusing, Odd, Submissions, Top Stories, , , ,

Deciding it was about time he cleaned out the fridge, Dave entered a strange new world. For there among the blue cheese, neglected jar of capers, and sour milk was a tiny civilization. Apologizing profusely, clearly having interrupted some kind of presidential inauguration, he removed himself and closed the door.

Gary Paul Ballard is a writer from North London working in the field of mental health. Although his preference is for flash fiction and he’s drawn to the ridiculous, he has self-published collections of short stories and a novella.

MARILYN McFARLANE: Legacy

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Annie’s arm slid into the sweater sleeve; her mother’s hand emerged from the cuff. Brown-spotted, purple-veined, a gold ring on a bony finger. Did Mom see the same? And her mom, and hers? Generations of hands in wool, cashmere, silk. Annie held her granddaughter’s smooth hand and thought: yours too.

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 format, and occasionally explores memoir. She lives in Oregon, where there is a lot of scope for the imagination.

JACOB MEADOWS: Kick

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

I am kicking, holding my breath. I can see the light on the surface of the water, I know it’s there. I can reach beautiful oxygen if I try hard enough. But my lungs burn. I keep kicking. With but a few meters left, I release my held breath.

Kick.

Jacob Meadows is a poet, researcher, and author of the upcoming collection of poetry, SHADES. A trained dancer and educator, Jacob has spent the last four years honing the craft of writing poetry and prose, finding his voice, and advocating for the LGBTQ+ community. He has both an MA in Creative Writing and an MA in English from Southern New Hampshire University where he studied postcolonial, feminist, and queer theories as well as autoethnography. Jacob spends his free time reading and dancing, his first two loves.

MONICA NAWROCKI: Lipstick

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

My mother called it “around the bend.” Wherever it was, when Mrs. Dumont finally went there, she went without her skirt on. She had white gloves, I heard, and a shiny black purse. A pink scarf, I think, and then nothing else – not even shoes.

But she was wearing lipstick.

Monica Nawrocki lives on Cortes Island in the Salish Sea. She earns her living as a substitute teacher, happily impersonating someone different every day. She is the author of three books and her work has appeared in various journals and anthologies across North America. monicanawrocki.com

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: Dignity

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

They prey with pleasant voices, names like Megan. Chad. Ask when I can make payments.
Can you make a bigger payment?
I have to make rent.
When can you pay it off?
I lost my teaching position.
Estimate?
I lost my position.
You’re delinquent.
Blood drained, I spout a date.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA program in fiction. His stories, “Soon,” “How To Be A Good Episcopalian,” and “Tales From A Communion Line,” were nominated for Pushcarts. Yash’s work has been published in SmokeLong Quarterly, The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, Write City Magazine, and Ariel Chart, among others.

ALEKSANDRA PANIĆ: 5 PM

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

Every day at precisely 5 PM, she would boil the water in her red polka dot teapot, add the dried chamomile flowers, and pour some tea in a porcelain cup.

Every day at precisely 5 PM, she would sit down and pretend she was the queen, who never goes to bed hungry.

Aleksandra Panić is a doctor of medicine from Slovenia at the beginning of her medical career. Since the beginning of primary school, she has loved writing poetry and prose (mostly), winning several awards (newspaper, literary magazines, national radio etc.), and having some of her works/books published along the way.

CATHRINE GOLDSTEIN: Time

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , ,

The woman in the old farmhouse
stares into her bathroom mirror
ignoring the crack at the bottom of the glass
and the matching cracks on her face.

Humming, she brushes her most prized possession
(although her once sun-kissed hair is now moon-drenched),
preparing for the tomorrow
that has never come.

Cathrine Goldstein writes a whole lot of gritty, real-feeling “stuff.” Most of it takes place in NYC. She also eats boatloads of chocolate pretty much every day. This story came to her on a trip out of NYC, as she passed an old farmhouse on the side of the road. To find out more about Cathrine’s bestselling novels, award-winning plays, and other writings including articles, short stories, blogs, and poetry, please visit CathrineGoldstein.com.