It must have been hard on you, Mother, when I grew
long and lanky and all legs, my waist no longer waif-like.
Gone was your living doll to dress and display, your frilly
designs now silly on gangly me. Such a cruel trick
my thickening, adolescent body played on you.
Deanna Morris is an MFA graduate of Butler University with multiple publishing credits.
“Death knocked on my door, asking for my mother, so I gave him my eyes and he left.
“A year later Death returned, asking for my mother, so I gave him my voice and he left.
“Today I heard myself calling from the doorstep. She ran out to greet me.”
Clio Velentza lives and invents stories in Athens, Greece. Her work has appeared in print in the anthology of short stories 21 New Voices and online in FractalArt, Literature.gr, and 25th Hour Project. Find her at @clio_v.
An astronaut floats in a universe of untouchable splendor
as blue green auroras dance and flicker.
Pinwheels of clouds turn slowly
above an uncommon earth,
where fall leaves surrender gently to laws of gravity
and tides roll with thunder.
Thrusters to return still won’t fire.
Her son turns six tomorrow.
MJ is an aviator, author, and speaker on ways risk and fear can work to our advantage to dream and explore. She is preparing for suborbital space flight.
The Story of the Month is chosen from the Story of the Week winners announced from the past month. The finalists for January were:
A Honeymoon Walk by Perry McDaid
The Incantation by Frank Solomon
Old Wounds by Perry McDaid
Math Lesson by Cathy Ulrich
A Presaged Day Ago by Bob McNeil
The winner of the January 2015 Story of the Month, and the $10 prize, is…
Math Lesson
Congratulations, Cathy!
The Story of the Week for January 26 to 30 is…
Tripping by Caitlin McGill
The story layers humour and drama together really well, and takes some time to pull apart and interpret, in a really good way. Great work, Caitlin.
I believe in vampires. I never used to but then, one day, I filed for divorce. I saw my wife turn into a blood-sucking member of the undead, right before my eyes.
We have been divorced many years, yet she still phones me to ask for money.
Oh yes, vampires.
Barry O’Farrell had a 950-word sci-fi story published in the December issue of Cyclamens & Swords.
All rights reserved. And I mean all.
No part of this text may be read,
browsed, skimmed or glanced upon
without express written consent from the author,
who, quite frankly, is a scamp and a scallywag,
a man willing to dedicate enormous energy
to flushing out careless lawbreakers like you.
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”. Visit BobThurber.net.
About to drink her non-alcoholic communion wine, Jane thought she was certain of exactly two things.
God loved her,
and
God is in the details.
However, if both those things were true, why did her husband leave her at the altar to be with Greek Leon from the HR department?
John is an English and Creative Writing graduate who splits his time evenly between writing, reading, and procrastinating. He very much hopes that one day the burden of reading his work will be taken off his family and friends and placed onto the general public.
The house had been eerily quiet. She wanted to talk to someone other than her mind.
She found him seated in the rocking chair by the window. Sitting down on the floor beside him, she leaned her head gently against the chair.
The empty chair rocked slightly at her contact.
Divya is an IT nerd by day and a blogger by night. She’s also a coffee junkie and a Cancerian. She lives in India.
Snow fell as he stared blankly at the photo of her. His other hand held an axe. One tree stood amidst stumps in glaring white.
Firewood was needed. But she planted this…
He sighed, pocketed the photo and swung the axe with tears. He’d save some for a photo frame.
Joey tries to write a little.