YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: Sounds of Dysfunction

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, ,

Bills crinkle. Words crack. Four letters.
Drawers groan. Doors slam.
Toyota roars.
Pick up cell phone. Straight-to-voicemail.
Merlot pops. Glass clinks and tinkles like tears.
TV laugh track assaults.
Words break into regret.
Drawer opens and closes. Picture frame scrapes and lands with a thud.
Air conditioner whooshes. It’s cold.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA program in fiction. His work has been published in SmokeLong Quarterly, The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, Write City Magazine, and Ariel Chart, among others.

JOHN H. DROMEY: A Precautionary Tale

Amusing, Puns and Wordplay, Submissions, ,

Bank robbers found themselves fleeing the scene of their crime on foot.

“What was our getaway driver thinking? His car has a rundown battery!”

“He’s probably laying the groundwork for his defense in case we’re caught. He’ll hope to receive a reduced sentence by pleading guilty to a lesser charge.”

John H. Dromey has a short story in the August 2021 issue of Mystery Weekly Magazine.

ROBERTA BEACH JACOBSON: Spreading the Word

Amusing, Poetry, Submissions, , , ,

Time to launch my poem into the world.

The journey begins with abstract watercolors – yellow swirls, purple splatters. I print my poem in 12-pt Arial. Since cutting feels predictable, I rip my words from the page. Once glue hits that wild art, a collage is born.

Blue ribbon – county fair.

Roberta Beach Jacobson is a poet from Iowa. This year she won three blues and two reds.

BRIAN MAYCOCK: Lonely

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

Between the commuter train and the office, the lunch break and working late.

Between the park and the bookshop, where I delay going home, to the apartment where I don’t want to be.

Before the morning alarm begins another day.

I never really stop.

Anything to not think, not feel.

Brian Maycock’s short stories have recently appeared in The Drabble, Flash Fiction Magazine and Paragraph Planet. He lives in Scotland.

RAYMOND SLOAN: Karma, over by the canned goods

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

I lost everything in the divorce and was reduced to shopping at the pound store. Diane hooked up with a younger guy, who swiftly left her after the hefty settlement.

Next time I saw her she was in the aisle opposite, feeding her favourite mink coat tins of cheap tuna.

Raymond Sloan lives and writes in County Down, Ireland. He has recently been published in 50 Give or Take, The Dribble Drabble Review, and 101 Words.

DON NIGRONI: The Hidden People

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , , , , ,

The fairy folk, once here or there,
would dance about without a care.
But also looking for some gold,
at least that’s what I had been told.

Abundant things they did arrange
with talents that were passing strange,
but dancing at a languid pace
they vanished, leaving not a trace.

Don Nigroni is a retired labor economist and volunteer Weed Warrior at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge.

RJ STANFORD: Crash

Adventure, Submissions, , , , ,

We’re driving into the countryside when Howlin’ Wolf begins crooning over the radio. Blues night on KSYM, San Antonio’s college station. The further we move from the orange hue of the city lights, the darker it becomes.

The frequency flickers. I look down to change the dial.

A deer appears.

R.J. Stanford is a former student of Southwest Texas Junior College. He holds a lifetime membership to Sigma Tau Delta. Career-wise, the author is working toward an English professorship. He and his wife reside in Hondo, Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @byRJStanford.

RUTH MANNINO: Chance Sighting

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

It was an ordinary weekday for the two retirees. He wanted to go to the shore; she wanted to catch up on her writing. She gave in.

A horn bellowed from the speakers somewhere above. They looked oceanward as the whale came up for air.

She had her next story.

Ruth Mannino is a retired math teacher, tutor, and business analyst, who has always loved to write. Meditation and mindfulness being a part of her everyday life, in 2020, she published Thursday Mornings: Breathe, Stretch, Listen, Love, a series of interviews she conducted with senior members of her chair yoga class. She has just discovered flash fiction and finds it motivating!

LISA MARIE LOPEZ: Mend

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , , , , ,

Grandma believes in traditions: homemade pie crust, Sunday morning prayer, peanuts at the ballgame. She also believes comfort food can mend anything.

Shortly after her team loses in the World Series, we wait for the clatter of silver tablespoons and egg-beaters and the aroma of cake batter to set in.

Lisa Marie resides in Northern California. She’s had stories published in Blink-Ink and The Ocotillo Review, among others.