CASEY LAINE: My Mother’s Hopes

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , ,

When I was a child,
my mother lived
in a converted school bus
on a rocky, wooded hill.

I thought it was neat–
I didn’t know it meant
she was dirt poor.

Now I understand:
Freedom was more important
to her than wealth,
but she wanted more
for her children.

Casey Laine comes from a long line of talkative women. She works as Fantasy Editor at Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, and publishes an annual anthology of fiction and poetry for her writing group, Writers Assembled. In her spare time, she chases butterflies with her camera. Find her at Facebook, Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, and Amazon.

MONICA PEREZ NEVAREZ: The Unsent Letter

Submissions, Touching, , ,

Dear Alfie,

I never thought the absence of your troublesome door-scraping could make me cry inconsolably. I didn’t think the cavernous silence replacing your joyous yips would cut me deeply. I can’t believe I can live my life while my heart beats breathless and shallow, mourning you, my darling boy.

Monica Perez Nevarez is a sustainability consultant in climate-challenged Puerto Rico, a doting mother to her four-legged children, and inconsolable when they leave.

JENNIFER L FREED: Your Pills

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

You say they’re a beautiful sky blue—
the pills
that may slow your tumors.

You take the sky
into your body
with your morning tea.

I imagine you
in today’s snow, making angels
as we did when small—
____ice-crusted fringe of tree-tops,
____glint of winter sun, the dazzling
____light

____everywhere.

Jennifer L. Freed mostly writes poems, which have appeared in various journals and anthologies. The above was originally published in The Worcester Review (at 57 words), but someone inspired her to see if she could trim it and send it here. The above-mentioned pills worked for about ten months. See more at jfreed.weebly.com.

K ANNE BURTON: The Straw

Amusing, Submissions, ,

The camel moved on through the desert, unsure of itself, afraid. The weight was astounding. That one creature should subject another to that sort of treatment struck the camel as confusing, upsetting even.

The man bent over and picked something off the roadside.

There was a gasp from the camel.

K. Anne Burton is a Brit with a life-long love of reading and stories. She can usually be found re-reading the works of Tennessee Williams.

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: Home, Where Are You?

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Nick’s hometown is missing. Where are silent evening streets, where he cruised in his Subaru and listened to oldies?

Cars roar, faces consumed by exhaust.

Where are the small shops, sizzling with pizza and cigarettes? Easily walkable blocks?

Skyscrapers rise, proud monsters.

Nick wanders, denying, not ready to bury home.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA program in fiction. His stories are forthcoming or have been published in Café Lit, Mad Swirl, and Ariel Chart, among others.

JOHN H. DROMEY: Equine Equations

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

A star performer was missing from the dog and pony show.

“Where’s your trick pony?” the ringmaster asked the head of the equestrian troupe. “The filly that answers questions involving numbers by the tapping of a front hoof.”

“Trixie’s out with tendonitis. Some wiseacre asked her how old Methuselah was.”

John H. Dromey’s short fiction has been published in Mystery Weekly Magazine and over one-hundred-fifty other venues.

BOB THURBER: Rooming House Custodian

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

I rolled him onto his back.

His eyes were wide open.

Blood trickled from his mouth.

I touched his throat, feeling for a pulse.

It was a dumb thing to do.

Cold as he was, there remained a warmth in his eyes,
as though some reflection had gotten trapped there.

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.

JORDANA CONNOR: Crackers and Cheese

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

Mustering her dignity, she says to the amused maître d’ – “I don’t usually produce crackers from my person”.

They regard the salty rectangle on the tastefully tiled floor, recently evacuated from her folded coat.

He runs appreciative eyes over her. “I’m just waiting to see if there will be cheese.”

Jordana Connor is a long-time scribbler and fledgling submitter of short stories and flash fiction. She enjoys excruciatingly bad puns, delicious swear words, and the Oxford comma. She lives in Brisbane.

EFS BYRNE: Homesick

Artistic, Submissions, Touching

“It won’t work.”

“Course it will, son.” Pa was an optimist.

So Pa brought the cat to his house. The dog went crazy. The fighting lasted a week until Pa finally had to throw the cat out.

He’d thrown Ma out the same way. But nobody listens to a ten-year-old.

Dedicated to education and being a father, E. F. S. Byrne has finally found more time to devote to his writing and is currently working on everything from very short flash stories to full-length novels. Samples and links to over thirty published stories can be read at efsbyrne.wordpress.com or follow him on Twitter at @efsbyrne.