SETH PILEVSKY: Good Morning

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

The sunrise woke me without a sound.

I rolled off of the stiff hotel mattress and tried to get ready for the meeting, but the silence was too loud.

My son called. “Dad?”

“Is everything okay?”

“I just wanted to say good morning.”

“Oh, good morning.”

And then it was.

Seth Pilevsky lives in New York with his wife and five kids. He loves to wake up to a noisy house. His work has been published in the Long Island Literary Journal, Literally Stories, Memoir Magazine, Stinkwave’s Magazine and in the YA Anthology entitled, What Doesn’t Kill You. Sign up for updates at his website, spilevsky.com.

MONICA WANG: What They’d Seen

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Several people saw her running toward the orphanage, her hair a witch’s broom in the night. Later, they told her husband’s family. They didn’t mention, for they hadn’t seen, the tarnished jewellery in her arms. Nor could they feel the memory of an infant’s breath still warm against her chest.

Monica Wang has fiction in GHLL, Electric Literature, The Temz Review, Midway Journal, and Gaze Journal, among other publications. She spent childhood in Taichung, Taiwan, and Vancouver, Canada, and now writes in Germany.

KIM FAVORS: The Illusive Garden

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

Exposed to light, the misunderstood memories skitter away like startled insects. Slowly, I clear more rocks from the landscape of my childhood.

When I find the courage to pull weeds, I might replace them with roses: Their beauty comes with thorns. Or perhaps cacti, which can survive neglect, even abuse.

Kim Favors worked as a newspaper journalist. She grows her literary garden on California’s Central Coast.

JONAH ARDIEL: Leap

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

I was six when I saw a leopard for the first time at the local zoo. Its presence had an enigmatic effect on me; inspiring.

I turned, posing for a photo, upright and brave, armed with a newfound sense of courage. The leopard stood confidently behind: shoulders propped, eagerly anticipating.

Jonah Ardiel lives and writes short fiction in Calgary, AB, Canada. To read some of his work, visit jonahardiel.neocities.org.

MIRIAM STEIN: Last Chance?

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

Michael really likes you,
Her parents insisted
When she was 20

I find him dull, she countered

You can’t be too particular, her father said
You have to think about what you have to offer.

Was it her extra pounds he meant?
Or her personality?
She wished she had asked

Miriam Stein is a social worker, writer, and the author of Make Your Voice Matter With Lawmakers: No Experience Necessary. See more at makeyourvoicematter.com. She lives in Massachusetts.

GB BURGESS: Fire

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

The smoke pushed towards our home. When orange glow appeared behind the hills, we filled the car with our favourite things.

I packed the photo albums, hesitated, then added the camera. We’d need it, I vowed. The fire could have the house, not our joy.

The happy snaps would continue.

G.B. Burgess wrote this while watching a bush fire inch ever closer to her home.

SASHA VICTOR: Honeymoon Patch

Submissions, Touching, , ,

The honeymoon patch of sunlight grew darker, obscured by the thick tangle of unknowing surrounding us.

I looked up. She hummed silently. The song resonated in her eyes, as if seeing the work already done.

I followed her, also humming, and we worked together, feeling ourselves victors through the pain.

Every day Sasha tries to give his heart to his writing, and every day his cat, Sebald, snatches it up for himself. Find his words and cat pics on Instagram and Facebook at @sashaandsebald.

LEX T LINDSAY: Close

Amusing, Submissions, Top Stories, , , ,

I think your atoms and my atoms were pressed close in that dense, hot ball at the beginning of the universe.

Then everything expanded, but not us.

Maybe that’s why you annoy me so much: because we’ve been stuck together for infinite eons, and I just really need some space.

Lex T. Lindsay is a queer writer living in Texas with her two cats and probably more spiders than she’d care to know about. Let the record show that she enjoys both Captain America and tacos a normal amount.

RICH RURSHELL: Clarity

Adventure, Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Blaine zoomed the digital scope on the target. The clarity was impressive. Better than the scopes he was used to. He could even make out the slight creases around the man’s eyes as he smiled at his young son.

“Take the shot,” said the commanding officer.

“Sorry, kid,” said Blaine.

Rich Rurshell is a short story writer from Suffolk, England. Rich writes Horror, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy, and his stories can be found in various short story anthologies and magazines. Most recently, his story “Subject: Galilee” was published in World War Four from Zombie Pirate Publishing, and “Life Choices” was published in Salty Tales from Stormy Island Publishing. When Rich is not writing stories, he likes to write and perform music. See more at facebook.com/richrurshellauthor.