JERRIANCE HAYSLETT: Fouling Nests

Adventure, Submissions, , ,

Humans blast off, seeking another home. Must have water and air. A glance back: arid river tracks, dry lake beds, ocean floor cracks scar, pock, and crater the rapidly receding orb, burnt red by self-indulgent disregard. No longer survivable. Beautiful blue planet ahead: abundant life-sustaining resources ripe for human ruination.

Lifelong writer Jerrianne Hayslett has lived many places in various countries and left all survivable, to her knowledge. Known to be verbose, she’s now trying for brevity.

TIM BOITEAU: Fledgling

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, ,

Mila awoke screaming.

There were feathers sprouting out of her deformed arms and hands. When she tried to stand, she collapsed on backward-bent legs. By the time her parents reached Mila’s bedroom, screams had devolved into squawks.

Before blowing out yesterday’s birthday candles, she’d thought: I wish I could fly.

Tim Boiteau lives in Michigan, is the author of the dark fantasy novel The Drummer Girl, and a Writers of the Future winner. See more at timboiteau.com.

BOB THURBER: The Return

Adventure, Submissions, Top Stories, , ,

Eventually we went back. Nothing was where it was supposed to be. All the roads were broken. You could see where people had given up. Hundreds of abandoned cars and trucks without doors or wheels or anything inside them but a hard smell that would be difficult getting used to.

Bob Thurber is the author of six books. Regarded as a master of Flash and Micro Fiction, his work has appeared in Esquire and other magazines, been anthologized 60 times, received a long list of awards, and been utilized in schools and colleges throughout the world. He resides in Massachusetts. Visit his website at BobThurber.net.

SCOTT G. HARVEY: Cheap Laughs

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Chronically vain and captive to status anxiety, I have only twice shopped at a dollar store. I was once taken to “Pound Town” by a friend in the UK. Several years later I found myself in “The Loonie Bin” in British Columbia. Unrelatedly, I have been in therapy ever since.

Scott G. Harvey teaches psychology and resides in the Niagara Region of Ontario with an ever-changing mixture of humans, cats, dogs, and chickens. He is the author of the philosophically-infused bildungsroman Savagely Noble. His short-fiction has appeared in Short Story Avenue and Visual Verse. See more at facebook.com/AuthorSGH.

ALYCE CLARK: Finally!

Amusing, Submissions, , , , ,

Three days, four hours, twenty minutes…

Two books (one science fiction, one fantasy).

Three crossword puzzles and an adult coloring book.

The house is clean.

I’ve rolled all my coins.

Remote control hastily picked up (and put back down): seven times.

Finally, a beep: power and wi-fi have been restored!

Alyce Clark enjoys getting lost in short stories. Occasionally, she writes a few herself.

THILDA HAYLOCK: Mum, the trees are on fire

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

The loud engine of the pickup truck keeps interrupting her thoughts.

Exhausted, she peers out the window at the autumn trees.

It’s so different from the city. Admittedly, it’s beautiful. Like driving through fire.

Resigned, she looks ahead at the farmhouse looming before her.

“Welcome to your future,” she whispers.

Thilda Haylock, an Australian teenager in Switzerland, believes that poetry is more than just the words; it’s a feeling all in itself.

ANNE ROKEACH: Schoharie Crossing

Artistic, Submissions, , , , , ,

I escaped. I locked the door and fled into the country where I absorbed sunshine and gentle breezes; pondered fields, flowers, and flowing water; chatted with friends, would-be friends, and ice-cream servers; and marveled at winged flight, before responsibilities returned me and my key to the lock on the door.

Anne Rokeach thanks the public library systems of Upstate New York for offering workshops which bring to her the joy of learning to write poetry and prose.

DAVID HOLLOWAY: We Have an App for That

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

I want an app that paints my ceiling and convinces my boss to give me a raise. One that teaches where the past years are. I want an app that cheats death, picks up drunk friends from the airport, and puts a dollar value on kindness.

They’re working on it.

David Holloway lives, works, and writes from Northern Virginia. He has been published in Gargoyle, Agnes and True, The Mad River Review, and 50-Word Stories.

RITA RIEBEL MITCHELL: A Distracted Brain

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Conversations that I don’t hear. Bills that I forget to pay. Dinners that burn.

Time passes and I’m late. Missed appointments and lost opportunities.

Did I turn off the lights and lock the door? When is the last time I stopped for gas?

My car putts and stutters and stalls.

Rita Riebel Mitchell writes and lives in the Pinelands of South Jersey with her favorite beta reader.