EMILY RYAN: Expulsion

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, ,

Every evening after eating, Eve walks. Her feet scatter geckos at random intervals, the sound of crows warning in the warm air. When she reaches the gate of the cemetery, the sight of wrought iron against the pinkening sky reminds her of leaving Paradise. She has been falling ever since.

Emily Ryan received her MA in French Literature from Middlebury College, where she was awarded the Bombas Prize for Literature. She currently lives in New Orleans, LA, where she enjoys live music, stray cats, and multiple book clubs.

NICHOLAS DE MARINO: Lovebirds

Adventure, Amusing, Submissions, , , , ,

Fresh from Mount Olympus, the Gods’ new matchmakers dove straight into mêlée.

Hapless grasshoppers huddled in harmony. Rabbits hoarded their lucky feet. Lone wolves packed dens.

And humans? They shacked up, too, fleeing flexed claws and rustling feathers.

The switch from bow and Eros to falconry was swift and cruel.

Nicholas De Marino doesn’t trust pigeons, either.

JOE PEARSON: The Modern Brometheus

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

I built a man from discarded parts, mostly found online. His brain was an alt-right podcast; his heart, an incel chatbot.

I charged his phone with a lightning strike. He scrolled with borrowed thumbs, demanding I build him a female. When the battery died he sat forlorn, staring into darkness.

Joe Pearson is a British fiction writer living in Paris. He’s trying to use his phone less. You can find more of his writing at joepearsonwriter.com.

BERKELEY TURNER: A Vampire Retired

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

I was once considered a monster.

They used to scream from terror, not adoration.
They used to wait with pitchforks, not cameras.
They used to hide when I killed, not watch.

Now when I drink blood, I quench their thirst more than mine. I am no longer the monster here.

Berkeley Turner is a wife, a mom, and a follower of Jesus. She has been published in Liberty University’s LAMP Magazine, 2020.

DAVID ALBANO: A Game of Fetch

Adventure, Amusing, Submissions, , ,

“Good boy!”

Spot bounded from the forest, the disc clutched between his teeth. His tail wagged as he dropped it at my feet.

It wasn’t mine.

This disc was silver, metallic. And what strange markings…

The glass and the tiny, frantic green specks inside caught my eye.

“What on Earth…?”

David Albano enjoys reading, LSU Sports, and being involved in his church community. David has previously been published in 50-Word Stories, as well as Frontier Tales and Dark Moments.

BOB THURBER: Angel Wings

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

It was crazy talk I wanted to believe. My sister had sources. Quotes from the bible. And Grandma. “She says we fly from heaven when we’re born. After we die, we fly back to heaven.” She was moving Christmas Ornaments around.

“Help me look. We’ll go together.”

We searched everywhere.

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.

DAVE BRADLEY: Ruth

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

Ruth looks much older than her 70 years. Infirmity shrinks her flesh, leaving a canvas of taut skin, applying time like sallow make-up around her eyes and neck. She brushes her hair before getting into the bed – in case of visitors. But until they come, she will sleep a little.

Dave Bradley’s words have appeared in publications such as Best Of British Science Fiction and Dorling Kindersley’s The Screen Traveller’s Guide, as well as various pop culture magazines and websites.

JOHN SLOAN: Marooned in the Moon’s Forever Dust

Adventure, Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Odd, elongated footprints lead from the derelict mushroom-shaped lander to you. Blue and white Earth shines in the black sky above where you sit, back against a boulder. Eyes with cross-slit pupils remain open behind a dust-filmed faceplate. Did you die here watching your world burn 66 million years ago?

John Sloan has been a writer in London, Ontario, Canada, for 40 years, mainly as a journalist, columnist, and technology analyst. He chose this path due to Lou Grant, a degree in journalism, and a need to eat. Sloan lives neither in a rambling Victorian house nor in a cozy flat. He does not own a cat.

MIKE KEYSER: He Alone Sees

Submissions, Touching, , ,

His wife had gone, he had stayed, neither by choice.
I watched him walk toward a place only he could see, more distant each day.
Photos fade before dimming eyes, music falls flat to distant ears. Further he walked.
Today he followed as she took his hand across the horizon.

Mike Keyser writes microfiction while working on his novel.