JOSEPH S PETE: Man Down

Adventure, Submissions, , ,

The combat medic raced toward the bombed-out Opel as tracers ripped overheard.

Lower limb fractured. Gunshot to shoulder. Both cat-Cs.

His distal pulse was good. Four hours to evac.

She looked back, gave a thumbs up.

Then a mortar round engulfed them.

Again, a warbling voice cried out, “man down!”

Joseph S. Pete is an award-winning journalist and Iraq War veteran whose literary work has appeared in The Grief Diaries, The Roaring Muse, Prairie Winds, Blue Collar Review and other publications. He orders off the secret menu.

BOB THURBER: Balancing Act

Adventure, Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Children shrieking, she bumps open the door, backing out with a stack of dirty dishes, her fingers pinching the rims of four plastic tumblers decorated with Disney logos, the plates rattling, the cutlery clinking in one of the cups. She says breathlessly to the ceiling, Where did my life go?

Over the years Bob Thurber’s work has received a long list of awards and prizes. His most recent book is a collection of brief stories titled “Nothing But Trouble.” His first novel, “Paperboy: A Dysfunctional Novel,” was recently rereleased. Visit BobThurber.net.

MK VINNE: Just a slight increase!

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , ,

A stagnant line, clinking milk bottles and morning gossip murmur. The delivery truck arrives late.

“The price has gone up!”

The murmur rises; no complaint, only frustration. With the decade-long war, people are used to this.

The old man puts down his empty bottle and walks away, never to return.

Mehdi spent many long hours of his childhood standing in queues for groceries and other necessary items during the Iran-Iraq war.

LOU ROMERO: It’s Cold in Here

Submissions, Touching, , ,

The flat green line. The monitor said… dead.

Years after her heart stopped, mine remains shattered but “healthy.”

I’ve tried to reassemble. I think good thoughts, fond memories. Piece by piece its coming back together. My shattered heart. I thought I felt it today. Alas… it is made of stone.

Lou Romero wanders around the New Mexico desert in his old truck, looking for signs. The signs usually tell him, “Why not stop here and eat a burrito?”

AJ ATWATER: Stephen Felix Meets His Savior

Artistic, Submissions, ,

Stephen Felix meets his Savior, her with long black tresses and long black dresses, and she deceives as Saviors often do, yet Stephen Felix fawns and trots and gloats at her side. This behavior is common among those in Stephen Felix’s unfortunate home, where they all die, eventually, even Saviors.

Atwater is a Minnesota/Manhattan abstract painter and literary fiction writer with stories forthcoming in Jellyfish Review, Heavy Feather Review and published in PANK, Vestal Review and others. See more at ajatwater.com.

SHAUNA ROBERTSON: No Getting Away From It

Amusing, Poetry, Submissions, , ,

I told him I had a dream.
He said,
“Dreams are for starry-eyed saps.”

So I told him I had a goal.
He said,
“Goals are for bankers and life-coaches.”

So I told him I had a thing
and he said,
“What the heck do you mean by a ‘thing’?”

Shauna Robertson hails from the north-east of England and currently lives, writes, and draws in the south-west. Her poems are widely published in journals and anthologies on both sides of the Atlantic and have won, or been shortlisted for, a number of awards, including a nomination for the Forward Prize in the category Best Single Poem. A chapbook of poems, Blueprints for a Minefield, was published by Fair Acre Press in 2016, while artwork and poem-pictures have been exhibited in a number of galleries. Shauna has performed her work at festivals, book launches and spoken word nights. Read some poems at shaunarobertson.wordpress.com.

VAUGHAN STANGER: Someone Else’s Problem

Adventure, Artistic, Submissions, ,

Maxwell gazed at the deactivated robots that clogged the avenue leading to the Capitol. Strewn across the asphalt, their placards proclaimed the slogan they’d chanted until the army’s EMP generator terminated the march:

SLAVERY ISN’T WORKING!

It was Maxwell’s job to salvage the robots. Instead, she picked up a placard.

Formerly an astronomer and more recently a research project manager in an aerospace company, Vaughan Stanger now writes SF and fantasy fiction for a living. Follow his writing adventures at vaughanstanger.com or @VaughanStanger.

MARK KONIK: Great With Numbers

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

Alana was great with numbers. They called her “hypotenuse” behind her back. She was across everything in the office and her colleagues hated her for it.

She wondered how long it would take them to realise she was taking the company’s money. Alana knew she’d disappear before they ever knew.

Mark Konik is from Newcastle, Australia. He writes short stories and plays.

MUNIRA SAYYID: To Err is Human

Poetry, Submissions, Top Stories, Touching, ,

It’s hard
to close the distance
and reach out
with compassion
and empathy,
denying myself
and accepting you,
just as you are.
And say,
without pride,
without reservations,
without inhibitions,
without fear,
that I
Forgive You.

Instead,
I hold on
to anger
and tell you
to leave without me,
again.

Munira Sayyid recently realized her passion for writing. She urges you to try as well.