BOB THURBER: Mind Your Own

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , ,

My daughter lives thirty minutes away. She’s got two children now. We haven’t spoken in twenty years. The last time we were together we hunted Monkey Bees in the backyard, turning things over, looking for a Monkey Bees’ nest. It was a made-up game. There was no way to win.

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.

GARY POWER: Fireside Felony

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Samantha lay naked on the hearth, luxuriating before the open fire.

Pulling the chain tightly between clenched fists, and with sinister grin, the man nudged the door open.

Blissfully unaware, Sam rolled gently over.

The man moved stealthily, deftly dropping the noose about her neck.

“C’mon you lazy mutt. Walkies!”

Gary Power is the author of several short stories published in respected anthologies such as the Black Book of Horror and Spinetinglers and also online. He is a member of the British Fantasy Society and the Clockhouse London Writers and also an Amazon Author.

ABBY MOREHOUSE: Flaws

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Mess-ups. Scratch-outs. We all have our moments. Life is full of mistakes. We all make them. It’s what makes us human. Our imperfections make us perfect in our own way.

But when we work together, we can overcome our imperfections and be an (almost) perfect team.

Even with our flaws.

Abby Morehouse is a 7th grader who recently started writing 50-word stories. She hopes to continue writing.

HARRIET DYER: Girl in the Box

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

The girl was sick of running, then sick of hiding once she’d run.

The only person she trusted was the man in the nearby box. She never asked for a name.

As she lay there, battered, bruised, and fighting for her life, she wished she knew his name after all.

Harriet Dyer is a comedian and writer based in the UK.

MONICA PEREZ NEVAREZ: Mom’s Last Garage Sale

Submissions, Touching, ,

Inside the empty cottage, shadows of ghosts: smudges where your picture used to hang; discolored floorboards where your cactus stood guard; a sepia burn on the kitchen counter; air stained with your perfume.

Six hundred bucks to show for a lifetime’s work.

Your gifts whisper to me in my dreams.

Monica is a sustainability manager by day and a writer by night, who used to visit Cape Cod every summer and every Christmas.

CHRISTOPHER GANNON: Forever Falling

Amusing, Poetry, Submissions, , ,

I tripped over something and fell a long way,
didn’t expect this to happen today. Wrapped
in darkness Like a coat. Felt my belly hit
my throat. Looked for the ground
that should have been found,
but I was misinformed and
quickly became bored
as forever falling
became my
calling.

Christopher Gannon is a writer of short fiction and theatre. He does not make up the stories; they make up him.

PAUL BECKMAN: Uncle Harry’s Last Magic Trick

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

During Uncle Harry’s visits he dazzled me with magic. At six he held my nose, tapped my head, nickels tumbled out. At eight he pulled quarters from my ear. At eleven he reached up my skirt to pull a ten dollar bill from my panties just as dad walked in.

Paul Beckman was one of the winners in the Queen’s Ferry 2016 Best of the Small Fictions. His stories are widely published in print and online in the following magazines amongst others: Connecticut Review, Raleigh Review, Litro, Playboy, Pank, Blue Fifth Review, Flash Frontier, Matter Press, Metazen, Boston Literary Magazine, Thrice Fiction and Literary Orphans. His latest collection, “Peek”, weighed in at 65 stories and 120 pages. See more at paulbeckmanstories.com

SUSAN RUKEYSER: America, 2016

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

We lock eyes at the supermarket exit: White kid; nineteen, maybe twenty; camo and boots in this heat.

I look for the AR-15 but all he carries is a box of Twinkies.

Someone yells, “Hey!” but the kid is fast, already on his moped. Gone, Twinkies crushed between his knees.

Susan Rukeyser loves America but has concerns. She wrote a novel, Not On Fire, Only Dying (Twisted Road Publications, 2015). Find more at her website, susanrukeyser.com.

MATTHEW EICHENLAUB: Kentucky

Submissions, Touching, , ,

He hears the wood thrush now
just at the edges of hearing, watches the trickling stream
from his front porch, and recalls
running from the bottom of this hollow
to its very crown—
—with his son on his hip.

And there, looking out
he observed
there was nothing—
—but potential.

Matthew now lives and writes in Maine. He always relaxes, just a little, when driving north on I-95 and crosses the Piscataqua River Bridge. There he is greeted by a large sign, white lettering on a blue background: WELCOME TO MAINE – The Way Life Should Be.