LYNN KOZLOWSKI: Outside the Ice Cream Shop

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Four tanned old women sit on a wooden bench. Friends in shorts and colorful tops. No conversation. Each is working on a generous, diet-breaking, double-scooped ice cream cone on the sweltering day. They are happy, engrossed in the cold pleasures of their choices. No worries but the race against drips.

Lynn Kozlowski’s writing has appeared in such places as The Citron Review, The Zodiac Review, Molecule, 50-Word Stories, Every Day Fiction, The Dribble Drabble Review, and Friday Flash Fiction. He has a volume of short pieces, Historical Markers.

SARAH FLICK: My Mom

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , ,

Passing through our peanut butter and jelly kitchen, she’d shoot some words at me before grabbing her movie star sunglasses and hurrying off to someplace more glamorous. A petite woman, vodka lover with sleepy cat’s eyes and hip-switching walk, poured into high leather boots, forever waving goodbye over her shoulder.

Sarah Flick is retired from the US Forest Service and lives in Colorado. She has published in 101 Words, Flash Fiction Weekly, and a Modern Love column in the New York Times.

ABBY COLLIER: Emily’s Education

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Colonialism and decolonisation. All her committees begin and proceed that way now. Emily can’t remember when they stopped discussing teaching, research, and students – how quaint, like her. She takes a moment balancing social justice with economic sensitivities in this decision. Is it equitable? Inclusive? Defiantly, Emily snatches the last muffin.

A once (and still, somewhat) Professor of Drug Metabolism, Abby lives in Ladner BC, with two elderly horses, one senior man-cat, and the love of her life.

THOMPSON EMATE: Stepping into Twilight

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Daylight is preparing to exit the stage. The clouds are settling in for the night, and the sun is getting ready to take a sink. I’m riding in a tricycle caressed by the wind, embracing the moment. Soon, twilight will summon its elements, and I will step through its door.

Thompson Emate spends his leisure time on creative writing, particularly poetry and prose. He is trying his hand at every genre of fiction. He lives in Lagos Nigeria.

BRYSON MOOSO: Twins

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

It was a kind funeral. Black cloth and sweet rolls.
They sang your song and recycled old stories anew.
They spoke well-wishes, treated me as if I was still whole.
They saw your empty body laid to rest then scattered like crows.
We buried two that day, you and I.

Bryson Mooso is still searching for that perfect sentence. He’s resigned to writing millions of them to find it.

CHRISTIAN DUFFY: Acetone

Artistic, Submissions, , , , , ,

She spilt nail varnish remover over the piano when she was fifteen. Hit notes D and F, two octaves up. Acetone eroded the keys, leaving coarse indents that time chiselled into little craters for her fingertips to fall into.

Now, every time she plays, her mistakes have their own melody.

Christian Duffy is a flash fiction enthusiast based in Northern England. She holds a degree in Literature and not too many items in her hands at once for fear of dropping them.

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: Excuses

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

My sister’s on the phone with Mom.

Nancy paces, eyebrows dancing.

“It’s been two weeks.”

Husky, familiar words rise.

“Tell him yourself.” Nan slams down the phone. Pulls me into a hug.

“Maybe next week.” Her words crack. “Let’s go see The Big Lebowski again.”

I laugh. “Maybe next millennium.”

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA fiction program. His stories, “Soon,” “How To Be A Good Episcopalian,” “Tales From A Communion Line,” and “Community Time,” have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes. His work has been published in SmokeLong Quarterly, The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, and Ariel Chart, among others.

JOE PEARSON: Inspector Clue’s Notebook: A Fifty-Word Whodunnit

Adventure, Amusing, Submissions, , , , ,

Investigation time. What a situation! Murder, rainbow suspects.

Professor: elegant alibi.

Colonel obfuscating clues? Key insight: never trust him.

Enter ballroom. Innocent looking lady in all red: deception?

Recent observation of maid was inconclusive: tail her.

The honourable emerald clergyman: assassin?

No damn leads! Except suspiciously typed initials – cryptic key?

Joe Pearson is a British fiction writer living in Paris. He plays board games, solves murders and hides clues in his stories. You can find more of his writing at joepearsonwriter.com.

Editor: Have you figured it out yet? It took me a minute!

SUSAN R BARCLAY: Museum

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Both fond and traumatic memories coexist in my static eight-year self. I spend decades collecting markers of your existence. All things September, the month of your birth. Mid-century décor, each piece a thrift store find. Coins – relics from your year of expiration. I am the curator of an abbreviated life.

Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Susan R. Barclay makes persistent attempts at witticism and stories; sometimes she is successful. Her works have appeared/are forthcoming, in the The Blue Nib, Vine Street Press, Defuncted Journal, Write Time, Paragraph Planet, Workers Write, and the 42 Stories Anthology.