ARMAAN SUHAIL: An Unconscious Betrayal

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

Tears wanted to flow but nothing came. I wanted to cry but the guilt was too strong. In one fell swoop, my entire world crumbled before me, and I could not have done anything.

In that one moment, I understood what love and friendship meant because I had betrayed both.

Armaan is a bibliophile who listens to punk and alt rock, plays APRGs and likes to get serious sometimes. He started writing because his friends told him his English was better than theirs. His strong belief in friends has made him continue writing short fictional stories after high-school even though he currently pursues a degree in business management. He has recently entered the flash writing scene.

PERRY McDAID: Guise of Providence

Amusing, Submissions, ,

It was peaceful in the near-empty compartment of the 22:30 to Belfast. Carrie felt so secure, with the guard’s regular walk-bys, that she could have stolen an hour’s sleep.

Yet she was fixated on the man with his finger up his nose.

That saved her life when the train derailed.

Irish writer Perry McDaid lives in Derry under the brooding brows of Donegal hills which he occasionally hikes in search of druidic inspiration.

ANNA ASCOTT: Cooking for Beginners

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

The woman who taught the prison’s Tuesday cooking class was a caricature named Milly. She spoke in exclamation marks and block letters.

“HI!” she said, the first day, into the overweight silence. “I’m MILLY! Welcome to COOKING for BEGINNERS!”

Fiona looked down at the knife in her hand, and wondered.

Anna Ascott is an Australian expat living in rural Germany in a village where the cows outnumber the people. When she isn’t organising her colleagues’ office supplies, she writes creative non-fiction, short stories, and flash fiction.

NT FRANKLIN: Roxy

Submissions, Touching, , ,

The world went quiet when she was eleven years old. Deaf as a stone. She compensates now if you know what to look for. You can’t tell any difference unless you call to her. Same spirit, same energy, only now has to be watched out for.

Still a faithful dog.

N.T. Franklin writes after his real job hoping one day to have it be his real job. He writes cozy mystery short stories, nostalgia short stories, and Flash Fiction. When not reading or writing short stories, you might find him fishing or solving crossword puzzles.

DEBORAH GARWOOD: Tidy House

Adventure, Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

The first thing we did was hide the body, which was not a small thing.
Then we came home, tidied up, and made dinner as though nothing had happened.

If she came home and found the house a mess—even if she couldn’t find our brother—we’d be dead, too.

Deborah Garwood ​is a writer from Missouri. Well, not really from Missouri, like, she now lives elsewhere. She still lives there. Forever and always. Probably.

LAURA BESLEY: Farewell

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

This beach, with its smooth stones and jagged waves, was always your favourite, wasn’t it, Mum?

That’s why I’m standing here with you now, one last time, a small tin in my hand that I can’t bring myself to tip. But I know I’ll have no choice in the end.

Laura Besley squeezes writing into the beginning and end of her day, when her young son is sleeping. She has been published in several anthologies and online. She had recently moved back to the UK after ten years abroad.

CECILIA DOCKINS: Ten. Heaven.

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Kit hopscotches her age over the trash in the parking lot where her friend was last seen more than a month ago.
Four. Five.
Feet wide.
Six.
Feet together.
Seven.
The happy little jingle is distant at first. An ice-cream truck.
Elation.
No.
A rusted white van with tinted windows.

Cecilia Dockins lives in Tennessee and spends most of her time wrangling words and parrots. She is a graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop. Her fiction has appeared in Sanitarium Magazine, HWA Poetry Showcase Volume I and III, and various anthologies. For more about Cecilia, check out her website at ceciliadockins.com.

JANE HERTENSTEIN: Never Too Late

Submissions, Touching, , ,

It’s never too late, she said, strapping on her mandolin.

Time doesn’t wait, she said, studying a map of the world.

More and more, she said, before hurrying to board a train.

Is this seat saved? she asked.

For you, he answered.

Into the night, wheels turned while they sang.

Jane Hertenstein’s current obsession is flash. She is the author of over 80 published stories, a combination of fiction, creative non-fiction, and blurred genre both micro and macro. In addition she has published a YA novel, Beyond Paradise, and a non-fiction project, Orphan Girl: The Memoir of a Chicago Bag Lady, which garnered national reviews. Jane is the recipient of a grant from the Illinois Arts Council. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Hunger Mountain, Rosebud, Word Riot, Flashquake, Fiction Fix, Frostwriting, and several themed anthologies. She can also be found blogging at memoirouswrite.blogspot.com.

ELLEN SINCLAIR: The Man Who Hugs

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

He comes to the jam most Sunday nights,
This gentle, unassuming man, carrying his
well-worn guitar.

Note for note, played or sung, pitch perfect and
resonating with feeling.

But it is the hugs he gives so generously and effortlessly,
full of kindness, that seem like music
and feel like love.

Ellen lives in Maine and plays at the jam.