PREETI TALWAI: Picky

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

The gastroenterologist says flare, hands me a prescription. I say betrayal, a body consuming itself. That afternoon in the pharmacy line, a woman complains about her toddler. “He’s so picky,” she sighs. The line advances, but I’m stuck remembering the last time I had the joy of choosing my meal.

Preeti Talwai writes from California, where she is also a research leader in tech. Her writing appears or is forthcoming in: The New York Times, 100-Word Story, HAD, Prime Number, Cleaver and more. See more at preetitalwai.com.

JENNY MATTERN: Tiny Haibun

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Endless days of PB&Js on Wonder Bread washed down with sips from the hose. Sticky toes from where the popsicle dripped onto flipflops. And me, flipflopping through the neighborhood on Blue Thunder, a hand-me-down bike I imagined as a black stallion.

serenity—
my thoughts return
to the old days

Jenny Mattern is a poet, a crafter of stories, and a cake-for-breakfast enthusiast who lives with her family in Montana.

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: Things to Clean/Purge

Artistic, Submissions, , ,
  1. Stacks of T-shirts, sweatpants, underwear, yellowed sheets, and loads of Kleenex.

  2. Bottles of Merlot. The steaks Anastasia bought; we planned to cook them for a special dinner.

  3. Anastasia’s lavender blouses, Capris, and sweatpants.

  4. Every invective that rises as I pack her goods into crumbling cardboard boxes.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA fiction program. His work has been published in SmokeLong Quarterly, The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, and Ariel Chart, among others.

THOMAS MALLOCH: The Photograph

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

You have to wonder what was said before she clicked. The toddler, the man, their stances non-contiguous. The first projecting suspicion, the other hostility, to the she who is absent from the scene, the she behind the camera.

The mood of a moment caught for eternity in black and blacker.

Once upon a time, Thomas Malloch thought to try his hand at writing, only to find that writing seemed mostly editing, and then that editing seemed mostly to involve taking an axe to the word count. Consequently his output and remuneration are both low. Good job he already has a pension.

MIRIAM N KOTZIN: Seashore Relics

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

Hole in the left upper, insoles shot, cushioning gone. When I wear them, I find sand between my toes—I haven’t been to Wildwood for fifteen years.

Holding hands, we’d strolled the boardwalk, ferris-wheeled, carrouselled, roller-coastered, oceaned, and beached.

I dangle the sneakers by their laces. They’ve seen better days.

Miriam N. Kotzin writes fiction and poetry. She is the author of five collections of poetry, two collections of short fiction, and two novels—most recently the novel Right This Way (Spuyten Duyvil). Her 50-word stories have been published in 50-Word Stories, 50 Give or Take, and Blink Ink. She teaches literature and creative writing at Drexel University

CAROL HUEBSCH REEVES: For Lia with Love

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

When the sun set on your soul, the world went dark. We who loved you are left to stumble in darkness—shattered. Dawn will come again, but never the dawn we knew. May we reach into our hearts, where the beauty of you dwells forever, and find solace.

A prolific writer, Carol Huebsch Reeves embraces the freedom and creativity of Flash Fiction. Most of her stories speak to life’s joys and challenges. Her work is found in Flash Fiction Magazine and 50 Word Stories. Carol’s memoir, “All the Little Miracles,” was published in 2022.

ABBAS IRAVANI TABRIZIPOUR: The Painting

Artistic, Submissions, ,

One day, the photograph said to the painting, “Why are you so valuable and precious? Compared to me, you are full of flaws and defects.”

The painting humbly replied, “You are like an angel: all your goodness is inherent. But I am like a human being: my goodness is art.”

Abbas Iravani Tabrizipour is a 54-year-old from Iran who recently won second prize in the Ahvaz 2025 International Very Short Fiction Competition (stories under ten words).

JOANNE MERRIAM: The Farmer

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Insurgency started with small seeds, the woman he compromised lying under oath, the celebrity he made famous shot at the border. Every year a new crop of plump Kalashnikovs, succulent Swiss accounts. He thought he understood cultivation, but finds himself set out to dry, the seed of some future flowering.

Joanne Merriam lives in Nova Scotia. Her writing has appeared in dozens of periodicals including Baltimore Review, Pictura, and Under the Basho. She owns Upper Rubber Boot Books, known for the first English-language anthology of solarpunk, Sunvault. You can find her at joannemerriam.com.

AJ JOSEPH: The Taste of Forgetting

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

Lila served Gerald the same iced latte in 1892, 2025, and 3041. He never remembered. She always did. “Happenstance,” he said, smiling at the déjà vu. She stirred in grief, knowing he’d forget again before the foam settled. Time bent for him; for her, it only bruised, and always lingered.

AJ Joseph is trying to tame her overgrown garden so that her cats don’t get lost in the weeds.