ROBERTA SCHINE: Yoga Class for People with Parkinson’s

Submissions, , , ,

I stick a long piece of electrical tape to the floor and announce, “Today we’re going to walk on a tightrope.”

Katherine says, “I think I may need my walker for this!” She bursts out laughing. We join in.

There are cheers for each person who completes this daring act.

Roberta Schine is a yoga instructor, immigration activist, and writer. She teaches yoga classes for People with Parkinson’s and for People with Cancer at Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital. Her writing has appeared in Portside.org, Bordernews.org, Hawansuyo.com, Perigrinosysuslettras.org, and other literary magazines.

JIM LATHAM: What the Sisters Saw

Artistic, Submissions,

The day the government blinded the boys, their sisters sang them home.

Not one girl led her brother by the hand.

Looking ahead to decades of caretaking, the sisters saw they would have only one chance to teach the newly sightless boys to listen and keep their hands to themselves.

Jim Latham is a writer, hiker, and traveler. More of his writing can be found at jimlatham.substack.com.

SUSAN GALE WICKES: Exact Opposites

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

Mary loved words.

Her walls were lined with all the classics. Poetry spilled from corner nooks and lounged on bedside tables.

Harry was an accountant.

He couldn’t tell a sonnet from a haiku, but he recognized a nice number when he saw it.

Today they’re beginning their 46th chapter together.

Susan Gale Wickes is from Indiana. She enjoys writing and reading 50-word stories.

ROBIN BISSETT: Fall in San Antonio

Artistic, Submissions, ,

The night of that strange party, I told you that I loved you. Later that evening, you spent the night at my place where I fell asleep with my head on your chest. In the morning, we toasted over breakfast tacos and coffee. In you, I had found my home.

Robin Bissett is a Teaching Artist and Writer from Central Texas. She enjoys absorbing and sharing stories and strengthening her surrounding literary communities. She tweets at @rtbissett.

EMMILY MAGTALAS RHODES: Refuge

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

High up in the mountains, fleeing wars, battling blizzards, struggling to evade adversity, we were famished and weary. We dragged our bodies forward. The perilous road stretched ahead, seemingly endless. Crying, you collapsed in my arms. You said, “We have lost everything.” And I whispered, “We still have each other.”

Emmily Magtalas Rhodes is a freelance writer living in a spa town in England.

CMF WRIGHT: The Tragedy of P—k

Adventure, Amusing, Puns and Wordplay, Submissions, Top Stories, , ,

“Never look directly at the mountains,” warns Peik’s ma. “The gods will strike you down.”

“That’s ridiculous!” says Peik. “They’ve no reason to hurt me. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

In a fit of pique, Peik peeks at the snowy peaks.

The gods, offended by the excess homophones, smite him instantly.

C.M.F. Wright is an avid reader and sentence wrangler. Her short stories have appeared in Fifty Word Stories, Microfiction Monday, Syntax & Salt Magazine and the VSS365 Anthology.

LD WATER: A False Hope

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , ,

A man walks in a desert. Exhausted. Dehydrated.

Near death, he sees a lone flower. Against all odds, it has grown in a lifeless place.

Hope. If a mere flower can survive, so can he.

Years later, with a finger, he brushes its petals. He chuckles. The flower is plastic.

L.D. Water is a latina scientist trying to dabble in some writing.

GARY CORMIER: The Last Gift

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

What last-minute present did you bring this year? Another box of chocolates? Ha! Batteries? A kazoo?

You’d think just one time you could be thoughtful. I’m dying! This is my last Christmas, my last gift.

Let’s see what kind of nonsense… Oh. A donation.

To the Cancer Society.

I’m… speechless.

Gary Cormier wrote this story.

ZOE J WALKER: The Gift Exchange

Submissions, Top Stories, Touching, , ,

He slides a present under the tree.

The child rolls over and exhales, dreaming of the delights of Christmas morning.

He collects a single second of life and adds it to his own.

Consider it… an exchange of gifts.

As long as there are children who believe, he will endure.

Zoe J. Walker lives between Rome and Edinburgh. She’s currently searching for representation for her novel. She won second place in November’s 2020 micro fiction competition at Retreat West. Find her at www.zoejwalker.com.