BOB THURBER: Pickled Eggs, Bad Whisky, and Grave Humor

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

A bartender walks into a joke.

“What’ll you have,” says the angel of death.

The bartender recognizes the line from a lifetime of jokes.

He slides a silver punchline into the chamber.

The blast reverberates, echoing hoots and dismissive laughter, but he’s on the wrong side of things this time.

Bob Thurber is the author of “Paperboy: A Dysfunctional Novel” and four collections of short fiction. 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 of awards, and been utilized in schools and colleges throughout the world. He resides in Massachusetts. Visit his website at BobThurber.net.

RICHARD BAIGENT: Fergus

Artistic, Submissions, , , , , , ,

“He’s such a beautiful boy,” they all say.

“How could two people who look like you have such a good-looking kid,” they joke.

“He’s going to break a few girls’ hearts,” they suggest.

“You are so lucky,” they add.

Yes we are. Autistic. He’s going to teach us a lot.

Richard Baigent always wanted to be a freelance writer, but isn’t yet.

LAURA BESLEY: A Tale of Two Hearts

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

I could be dead.

I would be dead if I’d been born 50 years ago. God knows, I’ve thought about it. There’s been no point living this half-life.

Instead, today I wake to the loud rhythmic banging of my new heart (my new heart!).

And my life can finally begin.

Laura Besley writes short fiction in the precious moments that her children are asleep. She has been widely published online, in print, and in anthologies. Her debut flash fiction collection, The Almost Mothers, is out in March 2020.

ERIN APPENZELLER: Living Ghost

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

The worst kind of haunting is when the ghost isn’t dead.

Last I heard, you were halfway across the world and still breathing. But I still feel you here. Sometimes I can hear you rattling chains. I think I see you floating through my walls. And everything’s out of place.

Erin Appenzeller is by day an English major and by night also an English major. She has never lived in a house without a few ghosts and is full of both bees and stories.

LISA CHAMBERS: Letting Go

Submissions, Touching, , ,

He admired her longingly from across the room. Just the two of them. Summoning his nerve, heart pounding, he approached.

His beloved wife… Hair freshly styled, makeup applied just so, hands neatly folded. Those blue eyes that once saw only him, now surveying Heaven’s expanse.

“You’re home, Angel. Rest well.”

Lisa Chambers is a Texas girl who enjoys writing.

KIMBERLY PARISH DAVIS: The Contract Fulfilled

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

Puddles and poo everywhere.

Mom had no business getting a puppy. Now she’s gone, and the vet says her tiny guardian’s kidneys are packing up.

Princess is only three years old. Did she have some heavenly contract to fulfill? Is she released from responsibility, to fade back into the ether?

Kimberly Parish Davis directs Madville Publishing, and across genres. Her work can be found in various literary journals, both online and off, including The Helix, Flare: The Flagler Review, époque press, Jerry Jazz Musician, and Flar. See more at kpdavis.com.

JENNIFER L FREED: While My Brother is Having an MRI

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , , ,

______to see whether the cancer
has also leapt to his brain,
my husband drives wintery roads,
bringing one of our daughters
to a birthday party. The dog
wags at the door, eager
for his walk, and the plow
leaves another ridge of icy snow
at the end of our driveway.

Jennifer L Freed mostly writes poems, which have appeared in various journals and anthologies. See more at her website, jfreed.weebly.com.

DAVID LOWIS: Lasting Impression

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , , ,

In the years after Luke left, Daisy’s recollections of their relationship fragmented. Like dandelion seeds caught in the breeze, superfluous memories were whisked away, leaving her just a lone stem to examine. His essence. Had he been the person she thought she knew?

She wondered how she’d been so blind.

David Lowis is a fledgling writer from Surrey, England.

PERRY McDAID: The Answer

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

It wasn’t the diagnosis of strangled bowel, nor the low survival chance to vital surgery that tore at his heart.

It wasn’t the palpable frailty of his hero, his mother, hooked up to machines, though these things were traumatic.

No, it was those five words: Can I come home now?

Absorbing the Donegal hills from distance only now, Perry McDaid’s creativity subsists on nature’s palette and scents. Unfortunately this sometimes involves silage.