CASEY LAINE: They Grow Like Weeds

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

The child picked me flowers from the lawn every time she came. I put them in vases, fussing over their beauty. It didn’t matter that they were dime-a-dozen dandelions mixed with clover; it only mattered that she wanted to make me smile. My heart wept when she outgrew the impulse.

Casey Laine comes from a long line of talkative women. She works as Fantasy Editor at Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, and publishes an annual anthology of fiction and poetry for her writing group, Writers Assembled. In her spare time, she chases butterflies with her camera. Find her at Facebook, Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, and Amazon.

AVA BALES: Venus’ Planets

Adventure, Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Venus looks up at empty nothingness. Every night she lays on her back and blows bubbles.

This night, an old, somber man meanders by. He looks up at the iridescent orbs floating up towards the sky. “It reminds me of before,” the old man whispers, “when there were still stars to see.”

Ava Bales is a 13-year-old Creative Writing student. She reads and writes short stories in her spare time. She has won zero awards and her writing has yet to be published.

HARLEY VITALE: Things I know

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

I know how to tie my shoes, I know how to eat without getting dirty, I know that the sun rises and sets every day, I know how to love deeply, I know that as a child I was abandoned and that I had to learn these things all alone.

Harley is a young girl who loves reading and writing. In fact, her biggest ambition is to become a writer and publish her own novels. She writes short stories and poems in her blog and she won two literary prizes last year. See more at soloraccontidifantasia.blogspot.com.

MELISSA B: Field Trip

Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

“Do penguins feel the cold?”

“Can all hippos wiggle their ears?”

“Are bats afraid of the dark?”

Bryan stood restless and hot beside the gorilla enclosure wishing one of his classmates would ask if a child could ever be sure his parents loved him if they never told him so.

Melissa is a sweet pea enthusiast living in Canada.

SARA MARTIN: Still Life as Underachieving Millennial

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

We are a professionally temporary generation. We are so happy to hide for small fees in dark classrooms.

We just factor the colored pencils we steal into our nonliving wages to shade in the psychedelic coloring books we use in lieu of therapy.

We have learned to live with itch.

Sara Martin’s writing has appeared on Lit Hub, The Rumpus, in The Seattle Review, Penn Review, Columbia Review & other publications.

CHARLOTTE KIM: Wedding Ring

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , , ,

Moonlight danced on silvery toes around our cozy cabin windowsill, dousing my new wedding ring with magic’s kiss. Kaleidoscopic butterflies born from reflective diamond fluttered across oaken walls. A warm paw draped over my shoulder—the same hand that stroked another lover’s swollen stomach yesterday. He didn’t know I knew.

Charlotte Kim is a poet and writer based in Los Angeles. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a BA in Communication, and you can find her dancing or singing during her free time.

HANNAH CLARK: Sailing the Seas of Love

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

He’s definitely the one.

We simply must use his dad’s boat! Romantic weekends away sailing the sea, popping champagne, watching the sunset with his arms lovingly wrapped around me, talking about our future, our life together.

I think about this often on the train ride back from our first date.

Hannah is from the UK and is a second-year university student. She has been aimlessly writing stories since she learned how to spell more than three-letter words.

MADELYN MARKMAN: Fuzzy Blue Socks

Submissions, Top Stories, Touching, , ,

I don’t want to admit
that I keep those fuzzy blue socks
we wore
when we danced
on the gym floor
and I especially don’t want to admit
that I keep those fuzzy blue socks
just to study them in my drawer;
A souvenir of you
never to be worn.

Madelyn Markman is a French-language filmmaker and poet. The above-mentioned socks are still in her drawer (but she still won’t admit it). See more at sites.google.com/view/madelynm.

CAITLYN PALMER: Retreating Inward

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

In a world where solitude and silence are unproductive, taking a breath is deemed a rebellion.

So as I sit on this loud, crammed train, I close my eyes to the outside and ignore the feeling of guilt. Instead, I focus on the world within and tremble at its depth.

Caitlyn is an Australian writer with a love for cats, plants, and beautiful books.