TIM BOITEAU: Hunters

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

When we were kids—
Don’t judge—
We went to the woods at night.
Hunting.
For chandeliers.
Burning bright beyond the shadows.
We would level your .22.
Easy.
Big dumb prey not going anywhere.
I mentioned we were kids?
So don’t judge.
Wouldn’t have guessed someone might come pull the blinds.

Tim Boiteau lives in Michigan. His short stories have won a Writers of the Future award and Story of the Year at 50WS. His novels include Iltday and The Nilwere. His slasher The Neighborhood Game is coming this winter.

RITA RIEBEL MITCHELL: Fire Sale

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Memories, stacked in moving vans, evaporated like morning dew, leaving the house empty and sad. Rooms shed tears of loneliness, missing love and laughter as loss echoed off bare walls.

With a brisk click, flames swallowed doors, licked ceilings, and seared floors as the unwanted house cried out in agony.

Rita Riebel Mitchell writes in the Pinelands of South Jersey where she lives amongst the trees with her husband. Her work appears in HAD, Flash Fiction Magazine, Versification, and more. Find her at ritariebelmitchell.com/friday-micro.

AISHA ANDRABI: The Last Apricot

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , , ,

I saved the last apricot from summer, wrapped in a napkin like a secret. In winter, I found it shriveled but whole. I bit into memory: tart, soft, sun-warmed. My daughter watched, puzzled. “It’s just fruit,” she said. But I could taste my childhood, my mother’s hands, the orchard’s hush.

Aisha is a poet and storyteller based in Srinagar, India. Her work explores themes of memory, displacement, and emotional resilience, often through lyrical prose and quiet imagery.

ANGELA CARLTON: How I Left the Cheater

Artistic, Submissions

At the motel, a ghost of a man’s parked on the asphalt. Pictures of his military service are plastered over windows.

“Mam,” he pleads. “I’m—I’m living in my car!”

You see badges over his seats, like a tiny-tiny shrine, before you place that meaningless wedding ring into his hands.

Angela Carlton’s fiction has been published in Every Writer, Everyday Fiction, 6S, 50 Word Stories, Spillwords Press, The Dribble Drabble Review, and Friday Flash Fiction. In 2022, “A Jigsaw Life,” a collection of stories was released. In 2023, her story “Swallowed,” was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. See more on Facebook.

RE FEINER: In the Eye of the Bog Witch

Adventure, Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

Conventional beauty standards lurk over Marsha’s modeling career as her hairstylist hacks at her self-image. Her agent sneers at her tears, “Maybe you’re not cut out for this industry.” Cast aside, Marsha finds solace in the marshlands. She grows native plants and feeds wild songbirds. They can see she’s beautiful.

R.E. Feiner has been writing for over ten years with over five years as a Marketing Specialist. At the end of 2024, tech layoffs forced her to reevaluate her career. As such, she rediscovered her love for creative writing. You can find more of her work on Instagram, TikTok, and Lemon8 at @book_void.

JULIE K DANIELS: Bottle Baby

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Asking about my littlest brother? He dropped out of school, joined a carny crew he’d seen fleece folks at the fair. “Three for a dollah!” they’d hawk, fingering soft balls near chalky bottles. He’d learned, flinging ammo just so. Did I tell you? Was me fed him his first milk.

Julie K. Daniels lives, writes, and teaches in St. Paul, Minnesota, enjoying all four (not quite equal) seasons.

MARY WANJIRU: The Last Bus Home

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , , , ,

The bus hissed to a stop, doors yawning open. One passenger remained, clutching a torn ticket. The driver met her eyes in the mirror. “Last stop.” Outside was only darkness and silence. The doors closed. The road itself vanished. Still, the bus moved forward toward nowhere.

Mary Wanjiru is a freelance writer from Kenya who is passionate about microfiction, human interest stories, and exploring the eerie in everyday moments. Her work has appeared on various platforms, and she enjoys crafting stories that linger in readers’ minds.

MARIA MILLER SILVERT: True Story

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

Since Dad passed, Mother asks repeatedly, “Am I dying?”

We reassure her.

At the store, I leave Mom sitting by the door for a minute. When the sirens blare, I run to Mom, thinking the worst.

She’s there, flirting with a chiseled EMT.

“She called 911. Said she was dying.”

Maria Miller Silvert is a multimedia creative living in Northwest Spain.

 

NATALIA PLOS: Frank

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

Frank dreamed of becoming an astronaut. His mother said they eat tubes. Frank looked at the toothpaste and decided to become a cook. The kids started teasing him with a donut. Frank wrote a poem about them. It was published. Frank is writing a novel about a cook in space.

Natalia Plos is an aspiring novelist. She is passionate about creating immersive worlds and compelling characters. Natalia can’t imagine life without great coffee, chocolate, and books. She now lives with her husband and two cats in the beautiful city of Phoenix.