The story of the week for September 29 to October 3 is…
Overdue & Outstanding Beauty by Bob Thurber
and
Back and Forth by Michelle Dinnick
VICTOR SEVENHUYSEN: The Mouse
A giant hand comes down upon me. I brace for the impact, but it just rests on top of me. I try to squeak, but it doesn’t come out. I look up just to see a bright square of light, and an object portrayed on the light moves with me.
Victor is Tim’s son, and yeah. Tim is Victor’s dad. Victor’s favorite story on the website is One Job From Retirement by Guy Preston. Victor likes to do animations and has a YouTube channel: youtube.com/@vicobot13. He plays video games and lives in BC, Canada. He is funny and creative and smart.
Editor: And very humble for an 11-year-old.
SETH ROSENMAN: Grandparents
“When your grandfather and I were kids, we walked barefoot to school, uphill in the snow both ways. The school had one room for everyone, from kindergarteners to Talmudic scholars. But what a delight the snow became when we discovered the downhill routes! This was before the war, of course.”
Seth Rosenman writes, but he doesn’t wrong. His writing has appeared in numerous places, and so has he. He can be found sleeping in your hat when Tom Waits isn’t. His dreams are manifested forever at infiniteseth.blogspot.com.
KAREN SZTAJNBERG: Columbus Day Bowie
“Could you lower the volume? It feels too loud for only five spectators.”
My son takes out his pad and writes, “Brings me to see a Bowie documentary on a school holiday and complains about the music volume.”
I congratulate myself for having backhandedly nurtured my son’s stand-up comedy career.
Karen Sztajnberg is a Brazilian filmmaker, PhD candidate, has a thing for fried artichokes, and abhors global brand perfumes.
NICK YOUNG: The Imprint of Time
It was an autumn afternoon in the park. A gust of chill wind and she turned my way, snugging the collar of her jacket, brushing an errant auburn lock from her forehead, smiling. It was only a fleeting moment; and yet, forty years on, it lingers as vividly as yesterday.
Nick Young is a retired award-winning CBS News Correspondent. In addition to 50-Word Stories, his writing has appeared in dozens of reviews, journals and anthologies. His first novel, “Deadline,” was published in 2023. He can be found on Bluesky at @youngnick.bsky.social. He lives outside Chicago.
COLBY WRASSE: Birthday Cards Made by Little Hands
My daughter’s face no longer reminds me of the little girl who ran to hug me every night. The bedtime stories I told her have been forgotten. Her world is full of complexity, and mine is missing something. She crosses the stage and walks the aisle, further away from me.
Colby Wrasse has worn many different hats in his life. None of them fit very well, but he has faked it well enough to get by alright. Through these years writing in some form has flitted in and out of his life, coming to rest just long enough to catch a glimpse.
WILLIAM MITCHELL: Pompeii
Another body; it never gets easier.
She was young, her face, clothes, once vibrant, now a mere plaster-filled void, an ash-entombed statue, agonies frozen that disastrous day, centuries ago.
Her belongings emerge; linguists decode the ancient markings:
“Timex” – “Nike” – “iPhone”
And occasionally, rarely, paper fragments survive:
“Pompeii Tourist Guide: 2026”.
William Mitchell lives in East Sussex in the South of England. He is an award-winning author, having had early success with various Horror and Science Fiction publications before winning the Writers of the Future contest in 2012. His first novel, CREATIONS, came out in 2014 with John Hunt Publishing.
MICHELLE DINNICK: Back and Forth
“Only what I can put in my backpack.”
They ask for their Lego.
I hang a bag from each handle bar… Throws my balance off a little, but I can manage.
I can only make a few more trips before I have to make dinner.
Thank goodness it’s not far.
Michelle Dinnick really enjoys writing micro-fiction, often inspired by personal experience. Sometimes she writes longer pieces as well. She has been published in the Globe and Mail, and Chicken Soup for the Soul; and won several writing and poetry awards. You can find her online at: fiftywordstories.com, commuterlit.com, and femininecollective.com.
GABRIEL TIGAY: Village Down Below
Old and wizened, I stare down at my village as though through a jeweler’s loupe. Pink geraniums, moody velvet fuschia, and bigleaf hydrangeas peeking like incredulous heads begem the pathways that glow gold in the evening light. I have done good in my lifetime, but it has come too late.
Gabriel Tigay lives in New York City.
BOB THURBER: Overdue & Outstanding Beauty
She apologized for being cranky, said she’d been up half the night repairing her heart, patching with duct tape and popsicle sticks, said she’d get me the back rent soon as she could find work, asked me to take her boyfriend’s name off the mailbox. Ex-boyfriend, she stressed and smiled.
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.