The story of the week for April 12 to 16 is…
A man (not her husband) by N. West Moss
KIP KNOTT: Home Repairs
The non-stop drip drip drip from the faucet is my own private water torture. Each drop that falls into the pile of dirty dishes cluttering the sink pops, the way your kiss used to pop on my cheek every night in bed just before you would snap off the light.
Kip Knott’s debut full-length book of poetry, Tragedy, Ecstasy, Doom, and so on, is available from Kelsay Books. His second full-length book of poetry, Clean Coal Burn, is forthcoming later in 2021, also from Kelsay Books. More of his work may be accessed at kipknott.com.
AVERY MATHERS: 2 A.M.
I burn the bitter words to fine ash in the waste bin, add a swirl of water, and flush away the slurry. Alone in bed, I stare at the ceiling. It may be hours before I find sleep, or sleep finds me. We have a habit of missing one another.
Avery Mathers writes in the Scottish Highlands. His flash fiction and short stories have appeared in Flash Fiction Magazine, Every Day Fiction, 101-Words, 50 Give or Take, Triclops, and others.
SUSAN GALE WICKES: Just Another Storybook Romance
The carriage crept quietly along the cobblestones.
Its occupants, a handsome man and a beautiful young woman, barely spoke.
Harsh words had passed between them.
Silently, he wished he’d never found the glass slipper.
Secretly, she hoped he would turn into a pumpkin.
Oddly enough, they lived happily ever after.
Susan Gale Wickes is from Indiana. She still believes in happily ever afters.
CMF WRIGHT: Changeling Child
She was young and curious, and we all know what happens to curious little girls in stories.
The witch lured her in, and when the girl left the forest she was changed. She could read and write, and recite pi to ten digits.
The villagers warded her off with crosses.
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.
SUSAN SAGARIN: Waiting for Ray Ray
At some level of her consciousness Margery knows better, but every night at 11:00, she opens the front door a little, just enough for Rafe to nudge himself inside. On rough nights, she leaves the door open and sits on the front steps with a mug full of vodka, waiting.
Susan Sagarin is a retired editor who lives in Maryland, U.S.A.
BOB THURBER: Leaving on a High Note
I wanted to say something noble and precise,
something magnanimous and final.
A parting shot bursting with clearheaded decisiveness,
a line she would record in her diary on a page all its own,
then days later tear out and burn, but never be able to forget.
But I had nothing.
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.
CAROLYN R RUSSELL: On the 495 North
We’ve not moved for ages.
“What’s the square root of New Jersey?” asks my daughter from the back seat.
“Hmmm,” I say solemnly, as though this is the kind of question with which I grapple every day. What might the answer be? Springsteen?
I could sit in traffic all day.
Carolyn R. Russell is the author of two novels and a book of film criticism. Her essays, poetry, and short stories have been featured in numerous publications, including The Boston Globe, Flash Fiction Magazine, Club Plum Literary Journal, The Ekphrastic Review, and Dime Show Review. She holds an M.A. in Film Studies from Chapman University, and has taught on the college, high school, and middle school levels. Carolyn lives on and writes from Boston’s North Shore. See more at www.carolynrrussell.com.
ALAN FALKINGHAM: The Over Easy Diner
The nighthawks down bad coffee and talk about all the chances they never took. Catherine hears without listening, counting out her tips in nickels and dimes, aching to be someplace else, where love is gentler, and the past no longer lives in the very marrow of your bones.
Alan currently lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, but originally hails from Leeds, England. To pay the rent, Alan writes emails all day long for a large global corporation, but for fun he prefers to create short stories and poetry and recently completed a full length mystery novel. When not writing, Alan spends his time constantly learning from his two young daughters, guzzling craft beers with his partner Gina, and following Leeds United’s latest mishaps. Learn more about Alan’s work at alanfalkingham.com.
STORY OF THE MONTH: March 2021
The Story of the Month is chosen from the Story of the Week winners announced from the past month.
The finalists for March were:
Bonkers by Robert Markovich
Elsewhere by Andrin Albrecht
For Mike by Jennifer L. Freed
How to Comfort a Mountain by Felicia Sanzari Chernesky
The winner of the March 2021 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…
Bonkers
Robert’s story of regret, of looking back on life and wondering what-if, is wonderfully evocative and well constructed.