The story of the week for June 5 to 9 is…
Isn’t She Lovely by Suzan Lozano
ROBBIE GAMBLE: The Eighth Day
God awoke in a restless state. Something was not right yet. God watched Adam and Eve frolicking in the garden. Perhaps one more creature, something simple and resilient, something that would survive the humans if they actually managed to blow everything up.
God slipped two cockroaches under the garden gate.
Robbie Gamble identifies primarily as a poet. When not obsessing about image and line breaks, he works as a nurse practitioner caring for homeless people in Boston, Massachusetts.
CRAIG W STEELE: Requiem
it’s been three days since your funeral
a white-crown sparrow pecks incessantly at the patio door,
wings fluttering madly to remain airborne, feet flailing the air
i blow a kiss, smile through fresh currents of briny dew and wave just as madly until,
satisfied, you fly away
one last time
Craig W. Steele lives in the lake-effect snow belt of northwestern Pennsylvania where, by day, he’s a university biology professor. He enjoys writing both short fiction and poetry and dreams of becoming a widely-read unknown writer.
HARRY DEMAREST: Better Not Tell My Wife
She told me that she’d do anything for fifty bucks.
She was shocked by my suggestion, but a deal’s a deal, and I made her do it. We played chess, and I won all three games.
I’d better not tell my wife. She’s a grandmaster, and she just wouldn’t understand.
Harry Demarest has had 20 of his 50-word stories and a few longer pieces published. He has been playing tournament chess for years, and once played chess all night with a hitchhiker he picked up in Albuquerque.
JOEY TO: The Guitarist
It’s freezing, the air crisp. The moon… she rises slowly, her blue light washing over me, calling me.
I take out my guitar. I begin with arpeggios. Simple, I know… but soon, faint waves of violet, then teal, then orange dance in the sky.
Her hue warms, as does mine.
Joey realizes that the violin or piano may be the traditional choice of instruments in these circumstances but he can’t play those. If he tried, her ears would bleed and she would run away. Of course, she might do that anyway. Either way, you can visit him at joeytoey.com.
DAVID TURTON: Left
The procession stomped past, kicking up red sand. Participants dressed in blue and green, holding banners in remembrance of Planet Earth, singing old songs.
Annie squeezed her grandmother’s hand.
“Nana. What are we celebrating?”
“It’s been fifty years since we had to leave,” she replied, gazing at the empty sky.
David Turton is a fiction author, flitting between science fiction, post-apocalyptic horror and straight-up terror. Look out for his published work across various online publications as well as a forthcoming Body Horror Anthology due in late 2017.
SUSAN LOZANO: Isn’t She Lovely?
Soft red hair, pink cheeks, and tiny fingers. From the moment I saw her, I was in love.
Home from the hospital. She’s all mine.
Mr. Wonder crooned Isn’t She Lovely? on the radio.
Admiring her and sobbing softly; the true weight of motherhood hit.
She is lovely, and terrifying.
Susan is a Curriculum Developer at a mortgage company. She is widowed with two grown daughters and two stepsons, and four awesome grandchildren: two boys and two girls.
MARJORIE ARNETT: Alabama Memory
I remember an Uncle
sitting on our swing
he was three axe handles
across the behind,
the swing only one.
It looked unpleasant
rope cutting into his skin like that.
He didn’t seem to notice
kept on talking, smoking
pushing his feet into the dirt
till mom called him in.
Marjorie is from Michigan, now living in Maine. She is a painter with a consuming passion to write.
JOHN H. DROMEY: Those Are the Breaks
“What’s wrong with Rudy? Lately, he seems to spend an inordinate amount of time in the restroom.”
“He’s following our company’s new protocol which requires humming or singing a song like ‘Happy Birthday’ to ensure employees wash their hands thoroughly before returning to work.”
“Yeah. So?”
“Rudy chose Ravel’s ‘Bolero.'”
John H. Dromey has had short fiction published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Crimson Streets, Stupefying Stories Showcase, and elsewhere.
MARK FARLEY: Memories are creatures of the night
Silent, scaly and bold, they march in ranks through the walls of your home and gather at your bedside, lighting the room with their luminous skin. See yourself mirrored in their silver coin eyes. All the lives you could have known are reflected; all your mistakes are exposed.
Sleep well.
Mark Farley (mumbletoes.blogspot.com) writes novels, flash fiction and the occasional poem.