You break the news in a sombre tone, voice barely a whisper. My guilty eyes fixate on your office floor. You blame government cuts and funding, anything but the truth: your wife found out.
I don’t tell you I’ve already found another job. I started looking the day we kissed.
Anna Sanderson writes about the world as she sees it (with the odd twist and turn). You can follow her story on Twitter at @annasanderson86.
Wallace sat on a bench in the garden, a bag of Skittles in his hands. The EnChroma glasses were a gift from his grandchildren. They’d asked him to identify colors he was only recognizing for the first time.
Now alone, he sat gazing at the English violets, lost in purple.
Ran Walker is an award-winning author and creative writing professor who lives in Virginia. He can be reached via his website, ranwalker.com.
When the last M&M had been savored, she threw the candy wrapper to the wind. It scampered past empty buildings. No litter police here.
A tattered flag whipped in the gale, golden horse on a blood red field.
The war ended abruptly. The virus had killed everyone. All but her.
Hawk and Young are two sci-fi/fantasy authors, joined by a single mission – to write! We live 550 miles apart, are best friends, but have never met in person. See more at hawkandyoung.com.
“This is what’s available,” barks the man.
She looks through the bars.
Pressed against them: faces. Beseeching. The heart-breaking whining unbearable. She cannot take all.
She writes a random number on her document and presents it to the office.
“A boy? You pick a boy?”
“Yes,” is her choked reply.
Internationally published, S.B. Borgersen writes, knits socks, and walks her smashing dogs on the south shore of Nova Scotia. Her favoured genres are short and micro fiction and poetry. She has thirteen draft novellas gathering dust. A member of The Nova Scotia Writers’ Federation, Writers Abroad, and a founding member of The Liverpool Literary Society, Sue judged the Atlantic Writing Competition (Poetry) 2016 and Hysteria (Poetry) 2017. See more at sueborgersen.com.
You cut your heart into the shape of a rose and fill your chest with acorns. We eat the rose with some chianti on your birthday.
Afterward, you say this is the best birthday you’ve ever had and stuff your mouth with cake as squirrels braid your hair for winter.
Erik Fuhrer is the author of Not Human Enough for the Census, forthcoming from Vegetarian Alcoholic Press. His work has been published in Cleaver, BlazeVox, Softblow, and various other venues. See more at erik-fuhrer.com.
I stumbled into the kitchen. Last night’s party was wild.
Loose word tiles from the magnetic poetry kit were scattered all over the floor.
I glanced at the refrigerator door. One foot up were two tiles: FEED ME.
I called out. Someone must have stayed.
But only the cat answered.
Candace Kubinec posts her stories at storydribbles.wordpress.com and her poetry at rhymeswithbug.com.
The story of the week for April 29 to May 3 is…
Hitchhiker by Hannah Whiteoak
Matthew is in surgery to have a large tumor removed from his brain. Matthew hopes it’s not malignant. After the operation Matthew recovers quickly.
Matthew’s doctor comes in and briefs him.
Matthew is happy to learn it wasn’t a tumor, though he wishes the poor alien didn’t have to die.
Denny E, Marshall had had art, poetry, and fiction published. One recent credit is fiction in Night To Dawn 35 April 2019. See more at dennymarshall.com.
There’s a steady hum of voices sprinkled with laughter coming from the recreation room of Happy Days Rest Home.
A new craze called “Write A Fifty-Word Story and Then Read It” has taken the residents by storm.
The winner gets an extra helping of soft-boiled eggs and prunes for breakfast.
Charlotte McElroy is an 80-year-old retired teacher. She is finally following her dream: writing! Thank you for giving her this opportunity.
Water cascaded over the lid and onto the grimy tiles. Lisa dabbled her shoes in the puddles as the tension in her shoulders ebbed.
Opening the door, she passed by the barista with barely a glance. “The phone is in the toilet. I warned that guy to keep it down.”
Sandra Ebejer lives in upstate New York with her husband, son, and two cats who haven’t figured out how to get along. Her work has appeared in The Boston Globe, BREVITY, and numerous publications on Medium. Read more of her work at sandraebejer.com.