GORDON LYSEN: Who Am I?

Submissions, Touching, , ,

I don’t remember anymore.

I have a disease, but I can’t remember what it is called.

I can remember things, but they seem so long ago. From when I was younger.

Someone helps me, and I think she is special to me.

Fog rolls over me, and she is gone.

Gordon Lysen resides in Manitoba, Canada and spends his time between the city of Winnipeg and his true home at Sugar Point on Lake Manitoba. Retired from police work after some 27 years, Gordon co-authored the novel “A Deadly Blend of Souls” with his wife, Lisa. Writing and painting are Gordon’s relaxation methods when retirement becomes too stressful.

LEN KUNTZ: What I Know

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Rain spat sideways while Mother tugged our hands until we were jogging.

Dad was drunk again, and he’d hit her this time. The bruises glistened like purple glass.

At a diner, Mother used the restroom.

My brother asked what I knew.

I told him, “Love isn’t supposed to be cruel.”

Len Kuntz is a writer from Washington State, an editor at the online magazine Literary Orphans, and the author of I’M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE AND NEITHER ARE YOU, out now from Unknown Press. You can also find him at lenkuntz.blogspot.com.

GUY PRESTON: A Night in Darfur

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Years had passed since the war, but guerrillas still controlled the city. I snuck through the ruins, hid in long shadows cast by a shy moon.

I heard rubble shift behind me, a gun muzzle pressed at my back.

“Stop,” he said. A child’s voice. Tearful. “Tell me a story.”

The closest Guy has ever been to a war zone was working in a bar on a Saturday night. This is his eleventh 50-word story.

HILLARY NICHOLS: Disgruntled Companion

Amusing, Submissions, , , , ,

I catered to every whim, met your endless needs, comforted pathetic tears of self-pity, supported every mediocre accomplishment, treated you like royalty.

Others were despicable; I was loyal.

I begged you every day to return that love. Instead, you put me outside, discarded me like I was merely a human.

Hillary doggedly tries to never allow her companions to become disgruntled even when they must be put outside for a bit each day like the other children.

LAURIE FELDMAN: Something Stirring

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

I used to be in a hurry. I wished for the weekend, for my vacation, for Christmas. I “wasted” time with mindless television and naps.

Since the diagnosis, I treasure every moment and feel cheated by boredom.

I’m awake for my life; I resent lost moments.

It’s time to retire.

Laurie loves sitting on the couch watching mindless TV and holding hands, especially with a smelly dog in her lap.

MARIAN BROOKS: A Spring Chorus

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Laura awoke with a sneeze. Three more followed. Her windowsill was thick with pollen. “Must be show time.”

Forsythia chanted “yellow” at the pink cherry blossoms and white tulip trees.

Meanwhile, the fat blue spruce hummed in quiet harmony, growing green with envy. Just wait for those petals to drop…

Marian Brooks has recently retired and has begun to write some short fiction. She lives in Valley Forge, Pa. Her work has appeared in The Linnet’s Wings, Word Riot, The Story Shack and others.

VERITY PARK: Alone

Adventure, Amusing, Submissions, Top Stories, , , , ,

Alone. Silence imprisoning her.
The button beckons.

Suffocating silence. No chatter or cheerful commotion.

Eyes fixed on the button. Abruptly, she crosses the room.
Presses the button. Waits.
Three.
Two.
One.

Stampeding feet. Sudden clamorous noise. Wonderful chaos!
She smiles.

Three voices yell in unison:
“Mum! The Internet’s gone off!”

Verity Park has been persuaded by her boss to take up the 50-word challenge. It’s not as easy as it looks! Verity is writing under a pseudonym but her boss will guess who she is.

SARMED MIRZA: For Better or For Worse

Adventure, Amusing, Submissions, Touching, , ,

I escaped the overturned bus, passengers trapped, convulsing into zombies, bite by bite.

Stumbled into the flat.

There they were. Jane my ex, and little Tammy.
Those estranged eyes. That snarl.

That’s when I noticed the guests.

And for the first time in years, we ate together, as a family.

Sarmed is a Glasgow-based writer who has written for film, TV, and theatre. His articles and poems have been published in newspapers and magazines in English, Urdu, and Hindi. His aim is to invade the online writing universe 50 words at a time.

HARRY DEMAREST: Roger’s Memoirs

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Usually somebody lives his life and then writes his memoirs. That wasn’t possible for Roger, the inventor of time travel. He had to start at the end and finish in the middle.

It might have made a better story if he’d started at the beginning, but that hadn’t happened yet.

Since Harry Demarest retired, He has had stories published on 50-Word Stories, Festival Writer, Gold Man Review, and Compassion and Choices.