JORDAN MOFFAT: Mind

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

The two of them sat beside each other on his old couch, where they’d agreed to meet. There was a space between them that could fit a third person.

“Can you truly understand how your mind works?” he asked.

“You are your mind,” she replied.

This made him feel worse.

Jordan Moffatt is a writer and improviser living in Ottawa. He performs improv with the Bad Dog Theatre Company and Crush Improv. His writing has been featured in many places online, including The Big Jewel, Broken Pencil, and The Reject Pile, with work forthcoming in The Feathertale Review. He is a founding editor of the online humour magazine Vandercave.

MIRIAM TEAGUE: More a Zing Than a Buzz

Submissions, Touching, , ,

“You know that… zing you feel when you get a question right?” David asked me after quizbowl practice.

“Mmhmm.” I answered distractedly, wrangling with my bookbag. He extracted the pencil from my teeth. I looked up.

“Beth,” he said, pencil twirling in his hands, “you give me that zing, too.”

Miriam Teague is a history student who lives in Dayton, Ohio.

CARRIE: Once a Father, Always a Father

Submissions, Touching, , ,

One crisp wafer cone. Two scoops of chocolate ice cream, hastily piled. Third Sunday of June, every year.

Lonely walk across unruly grass that tickles at exposed ankles, in search of a serenity found only among abandoned tombstones.

When you arrive, a tearful, tender whisper to yourself: “Happy Father’s Day.”

Carrie is morose, taciturn, and perpetually hungry, but only one of these traits is inherited from her father.

LESLIE SITTNER: Shocking

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Nineteen-fifties medical protocol was shock treatment.

Mother’s psychiatrist put her in the hospital for her “breakdown.” She crocheted socks in the bleak ward.

She couldn’t remember much after her release.

She was never crazy, simply lonely for my wayward father.

He didn’t believe in psychological hocus-pocus.

He left us anyway.

Leslie Sittner has been writing prose and poetry for the last two years hoping to avoid the psych ward. With print stories in the Apple Tree and online work in Silver Birch Press, 101Words, and 50 Word Challenge, she has so far avoided admission.

ANA BL VEIRA: Dreaming

Submissions, Touching, , ,

Lying on the bed, atop soft cotton sheets, she gazed at the ceiling of the elegant suite and thought this was one the best moments of her life.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door: Rose! Have you finished the first floor?

She picked up her cleaning supplies and rushed away.

Ana BL Veira lives in Madrid. She works as secretary. She has a pile of dreams. The last one: Writing a short story. Here she is.

MICHAEL D HILL: Even Masochists Have Feelings

Odd, Submissions, , ,

For several years, it was a truly loving relationship.

She beat him in private and humiliated him constantly in public. He never forgot to thank her for every moment, and they both felt safe and happy in their chosen roles.

But then, one day in late autumn, she said, “Sorry.”

Michael D. Hill is a Londoner who has lived in Dorset for more than half his life. He enjoys reading, writing and breathing.

HARRY DEMAREST: I Remember

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

I wake up in a sweat and remember.

Their hollow, hopeless eyes.

I see the guards, grinning while they torture thousands.

I hear the screams, as if they were today.

I remember the commander, watching and smiling, and I cringe every morning when I see his face in the mirror.

This is Harry Demarest’s 17th 50-word story to be published.

SUSAN GALE WICKES: Going Home

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

Last Thanksgiving, I baked a pumpkin pie and showed up on the doorstep with a huge knot in my stomach and a little sliver of hope in my heart.

Little did I know, that sliver of hope would be carved up before the turkey even came out of the oven.

Susan Gale Wickes spent many years in the newspaper industry, but is now devoting her time and energy to writing poetry and short stories. She has been published in Haiku Journal, Sleeve, and 50-Word Stories.

LIN JENKINSON: Zoey: Witch Hunter

Adventure, Submissions, ,

I could smell her rat’s nest presence when no one could. Of course, no one was a bona fide witch hunter like me. Every victory made me sense their presence even more.

She smiled demurely. A school counselor; what a great cover.

I’d run her out of town by Monday.

Since Lin Jenkinson was introduced to 50 Word Stories, she has been addicted. But only micro-addicted. Hopefully Zoey will have many witch-hunting adventures in the future.