PETRA MCQUEEN: Hiding Helen

Odd, Submissions, Touching, , ,

He hid her name in others’ tattoos: in mermaids’ scales, dragons’ spines, and the red of bleeding hearts. Now he was too blind to do the work.

He pulled a lever: mechanical fingers splayed opened his eyelids. Tears came just before the needle pricked HELEN into his eye’s soft flesh.

Petra McQueen is a writer and teacher. Her writing has been featured in The Guardian and You magazine, and her stories and poems have been published in the UK and abroad. She lives in the farthest reaches of Essex with her wonderfully supportive family who suffer with grace her moody silences as she composes yet-to-be-written award-winning novels in her head.

BILLY HIGGINS: Quicksand Sage

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

The sage meditated on a pile of quicksand, his face tilted towards the sun. He had a dull smile on his face, exuding tranquility.

The quicksand consumed him, devouring him in its cold, gentle embrace.

“I am one with nature,” he said, right before his lips sank into the pit.

Billy Higgins is a 21-year-old louse with a penchant for madness. He’s neither a sage nor a pile of quicksand, but who knows what the future may hold?

JASON HART: Paradise

Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

Shifting his weight on the cliff’s edge, Fred wrapped his arm around Wilma’s shoulder. Silently, they watched as the last great herd of Triceratops slowly moved across the landscape far below. She leaned in close, trying to savor the moment.

Deep down she knew.

Times like these don’t last forever.

Jason manages a bookstore in Tennessee and enjoys writing short stories in his spare time. You can find more of his short stories, as well as his comic, at jasonlhart.blogspot.com.

JOE MALONE: No Solicitors

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Our home faces Bayou St. Moss.

Albert, an eighteen-foot croc, likes to haul out onto our front lawn and sun himself there.

Our mail and newspapers are delivered to the post office downtown. Our last visitors were the Bartle boys, who tried to prank us on Halloween three years ago.

Joe Malone is living in a mud hut in South Sudan. Read more from him at joem18b.wordpress.com.

ANTHONY J GEIST: Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Amusing, Submissions, ,

“I am the winner!”

“How can you be? They called my name!”

A gaming commissioner intervened. “Gentlemen, gentlemen. What exactly IS the problem?”

“I am the winner!”

“NO WAY! I AM!”

“What was the name that was announced?” the commissioner interjected.

“John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmitt. His name is my name too.”

Anthony J. Geist is a man of many words. In an effort to become concise, he is trying short prose, like “50 Word Stories.” Geist was inspired by two of his English professors in the lifelong pursuit of writing. He’s starting to get it. This bio is even fifty words.

GEORGE S KARAGIANNIS: Punctuating Love

Amusing, Submissions, Touching, , ,

Don’t you see how desperately I need you question mark don’t you see how depressed I get while you keep avoiding my messages question mark don’t you see my heart is like an empty harbor patiently waiting to embrace this ship bearing your name question mark

No I don’t period

George S. Karagiannis was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, and is currently a PhD student at the University of Toronto in Canada. He enjoys writing science-fiction (in a non-professional capacity, so far) in the subgenres of hard science fiction, bizarro, and apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic settings.

STEPHEN CROWLEY: Living in the Moment

Amusing, Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

Third day. Sam sat in the cafe twirling his coffee mug. Just quick glances, and neck scratching.

No more pretending to check for messages when she looked up.

Sam rose, pulse racing.

She craned her neck suddenly. She shook her head.

Deflated, Sam resumed his seated position. “Well, never mind.”

Stephen Crowley has written fiction for Flash Fiction Friday, a short fiction magazine, and currently writes short tales for his collections. His fiction writing blog is stephen-crowley.blogspot.co.uk.

RICHARD BLACK: A Possible Homicide

Adventure, Submissions, , ,

“Good evening, ma’am. We’re looking into a possible homicide. I’m Walker. This is my partner, Smith. May we come in?”

“Sure. But you’ll have to excuse the mess. I’ve been… Wait a minute. You’re not detectives.”

“No. But now that we’re in here, our ‘possible homicide’ has found its victim.”

Richard Black is an attorney and writer in Washington, D.C.

CONNELL WAYNE REGNER: If Not For You

Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

You opened my heart; you saw inside me; you understood what I needed.

You were the one that awoke me to a brand new day and helped me live again.

Without you I wouldn’t be here, I couldn’t be here. You are my one and only saviour.

My heart surgeon.

Connell was inspired to write this story by his father-in-law’s successful heart valve operation, which was originally misdiagnosed in another hospital. See more of his literary mishaps at paragraphplanet and home.wtd-magazine.com.

 

MICHAEL COOLEN: Hamatsa

Adventure, Submissions, , , , ,

Kwax’ilanokume spent months memorizing how Man-Eater came to the Kwakiutl. The penalty for making any mistake at that evening’s Hamatsa ceremony was death.

An hour into his performance a fly entered his mouth. Kwax’ilanokume gagged, momentarily stopping. He’d just resumed singing when the spear entered the back of his head.

Michael Coolen is a composer, pianist, actor, and writer who lives in Corvallis, Oregon.