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KARA JOHNSON-MARTINEZ: They Only Ask, What’s Next?

December 27, 2017Artistic, Submissions, Top Storiesfuture, graduation, Kara Johnson-Martinez, life, uncertaintyTim

Endless pots of coffee drunk. Countless pages gorged upon, regurgitated, wept over. Knowledge tested and realized. Credits accumulated. She reached the end of the text only to find a perplexing blank page.

They call her name. The tassel dangling from the mortarboard throws her off-balance as she traverses the stage.


Kara Johnson-Martinez is a freelance writer and novelist based in Colorado. For a preview of her fiction visit kararochelle.com.

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TAMSIN SEYMOUR: The Hotdog

December 26, 2017Submissions, Touchingdaughter, father, live a little, special moments, Tamsin SeymourTim

With ketchup trickling from her broad grin, his daughter looks like a cheerful, diminutive vampire.

The food is too fast, the street is too crowded, the fireworks are too loud. She is loving every single minute, and her mother will be furious.

Both of these things give him deep satisfaction.


Tamsin wishes she wasn’t too cowardly for fireworks and broad grins.

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CALEB FITTING: Intimate

December 26, 2017Adventure, SubmissionsCaleb Fitting, irony, relationship, science fictionTim

Lydia dropped off Hannah at her dad’s place, a rocky walk from home. She enjoyed the trek. They both did. The bubble helmet radios picked up every single word. Every breath floated into mother’s and daughter’s ears.

It was intimate, unlike with her ex-husband, the only other human on Titan.


Caleb resides in Arkansas where he plays beach volleyball.

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STORY OF THE WEEK: December 24

December 24, 2017NewsTim

The story of the week for December 18 to 22 is…

The Cruelest Part by Dave Novak

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ALANNA DONALDSON: Lucky

December 22, 2017Amusing, Artistic, SubmissionsAlanna Donaldson, embellishment, funny, gossip, rumorsTim

When Mrs Brain’s dog bit off her thumb, the whole village soon heard about it.

As the rumours spread, the thumb became all five fingers, which in turn became her hand.

In this way, the village devoured more of Mrs Brain than Lucky had ever done, or hoped to do.


Alanna writes short stories and flash fiction and works in publishing in Oxfordshire. She can be found on Twitter at @alannamadeleine.

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PENNY SENANARONG: Heartless

December 22, 2017Artistic, Submissionsheart, humanity, love, metaphor, Penny SananarongTim

A void sits in between his rib cages; he lacks the beating bit of flesh that makes humans human. So, she fills the emptiness with memories of overgrown moss and poisonous flowers, along with false promises of eternity.

It is the closest thing to her heart that she can give.


Penny Senanarong is currently an A-Level student who grew up in the bustling city of Bangkok. Although Thai is her mother tongue, the world of English language and literature fascinates her, and she wishes to be a part of it through writing fiction.

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VIV BURGESS: Frequent Flyer

December 22, 2017Amusing, Submissionsfunny, Santa Claus, Viv BurgessTim

After years of business suppers, his wife put him on a diet. The benefits were obvious. The uniform was looser and his delivery route was quicker. He could go in and out of buildings faster and travel lighter.

But refusing client generosity proved difficult. He never could resist mince pies.


Viv Burgess is aware that he also likes cookies or biscuits but on a diet he should really only eat the carrots.

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CHELSEA ROBERTS: The Saucers

December 21, 2017Amusing, Artistic, Submissionsaliens, Chelsea Roberts, Earth, environment, science fictionTim

The saucers appeared at 12:15 pm on Feast Day, when we celebrate victory over body shaming and our collective morbid obesity.

The saucers searched for intelligent life, abundant natural resources or a population able to power their work force back home.

The saucers left at 12:16 pm on Feast Day.


Chelsea Roberts on most days can be found writing essays and short stories at pastpaperanswers.com.

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JOSÉ JAIME PÉREZ: Someone Different From the World

December 21, 2017Submissions, Touchingbeauty, José Jaime Perez, love, relationshipTim

He was lost in thought again. Someone took over his mind, someone with a heart able to enjoy every single moment as if everything was special.

He stared at her and she smiled back happily, unaware of her own uniqueness. That ignorance, he pondered, was also part of her beauty.


José Jaime is from Spain and is studying at university.

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DAVE NOVAK: The Cruelest Part

December 20, 2017Artistic, Submissions, Top Storieschild, Dave Novak, heartbreak, loss, moving on, parent, rememberingTim

She told me that the cruelest part of it all, after it was over and she was finally allowed to leave the hospital and come home again, was that they had taken the crib away without even telling her.

They pretended like it had never been there to begin with.


Dave Novak works in a fairly serious office that sends him to strange and mysterious places throughout New Jersey. Whenever he feels like being more or less serious, he writes. You can check out his works and thoughts at dumbstupidfakestories.wordpress.com.

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