BILL COX: Down the Plughole

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Jean enjoyed doing the dishes. It gave her time to think. With her hands soaked in suds she considered her relationship with Jamie, looking for a sign about how to proceed. And when she pulled the plug and watched the water gurgle down the drain, the answer came to her.

Bill lives in Aberdeen, Scotland. They say that the human body is ninety per cent water. Being Scottish, Bill’s body is actually forty-five per cent the water of life and forty-five per cent deep-fried sausage meat. The other ten per cent is smugness at living in the best country in the world.

KATI BUMBERA: Aurora

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Aurora used to be a good girl: did her homework, helped her mum, lit up the Arctic sky with magic.

But at 15, she fell in with a gang of constellations.

They loiter at the harbour, play pranks on the whales, and reave the night sky of its lawful splendour.

Kati likes to write about snow and ice. This story was inspired by two separate trips to Iceland, where she failed to see the Northern Lights.

LISA MARIE LOPEZ: Lovely Pearls

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Once the shop was quiet, she carefully removed the pearls from the glass display and slipped them into her coat pocket. Days later, she called them a gift. They lay heavy on her chest. Even tucked away in velvety lined drawers, the heaviness lingered. In time, they would outweigh everything.

Lisa Marie Lopez resides in northern California, where she enjoys writing in little coffee shops and taking peaceful walks. She’s had stories published in several different journals and venues, including Blink-Ink, From the Depths, and The Ocotillo Review.

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.