When Jack first heard the whispers, he figured it was just the breeze.
After all, living in the forest attracted creatures of varying degrees.
They became so easy to ignore, simply assigning it to the owls in the trees.
It only became a worry when those whispers turned to pleas.
Michael Samuel lives in Missouri, dreaming up stories in his head. Every so often, they get published.
I made the decision to let him die.
No more feeding, no more antibiotics, no more cancer treatments. Just pain meds and sedatives. He was at peace when he died. His anxiety, dread and fear were gone before he took his last breath.
I will never again be at peace.
Sharon Gerger has had to make some tough decisions over the last year. Writing about them helps her to deal with the “too much”.
That jade tree exploded into life over summer.
Cascading gloss green discs,
no lichen covered stick
torn from an ancient plant, as I closed up my mother’s house.
“Grow again,” I whispered. “There’s sun. Reach…”
She heard me.
The daily joy of more life,
tumbling gently from a concrete pot.
Dave lives in Sydney, Australia and works across various creative disciplines. Connect at @davidnormanbonney.
The story of the week for February 17 to 21 is…
How to Move Your Mother to Assisted Living by Jennifer L. Freed
Fill the cardboard boxes with choices.
Promise you’ll find homes for her great aunt’s linens,
her father’s oak desk, the paired wingchairs
she’s had for forty years.
Listen to her memories.
Let her change her mind, keep
the blue quilt, donate
the green one.
Don’t mention the inevitable estate sale.
Jennifer L Freed is author of When Light Shifts, a memoir-in-poems on care-giving, aging, and family relationships, inspired by the aftermath of her mother’s stroke. Her parents still inspire her. Please visit jfreed.weebly.com to learn more.
The motivational speakers took the stage. The audience didn’t expect these founders of the phenomenally successful dog-training company, Sit Down!, to unveil a new venture. On command, their yellow lab, Connor, joined them at the microphone to explain, in an almost imperceptible canine accent, his handlers’ latest enterprise, Speak Up!
Susan Heisner, aka the wyowordslinger, writes for fun and connection.
He always corners you in the kitchen with, “What did you want to talk about?”
Under pressure of expectations and the sizzling stove, your resolve melts like the butter in the frying pan.
You serve him a plate of, “Nothing!” and eat your own heart out with a side salad.
Billie-Leigh Burns is a writer from Liverpool. Her work has been featured by 50 Word Stories, 101 words, Funny Pearls, and The Hooghly Review. She is also a maths tutor and a bookkeeper, making her the only writer she knows who owns an ‘I Heart Spreadsheets’ mug.
Take an index card, sketch native species – today, the grey-winged trumpeter – on the upper third, outline with fine-tip permanent marker, shade with multicolored charcoals, copy conservation status, diet, wingspan, lifespan, apply homemade stamp, let dry, laminate, round off corners, toss into the pile, pray for your old trading card buddy.
David Williamson is a mathematician by day, avid reader and writer by night. Many of his pieces cover the topics of health, love, friendship, and what can create or extinguish hope. He loves writing and equally enjoys digging into data and numbers and finding the stories they tell. His first short story was published in 2024 in The First Line literary journal, so he is just beginning his writing career!
As his hearing failed, Robert cataloged creatures with exceptional hearing so he could know them—a bat; a barn owl; a fox; any of the cephalopods; the dachshund he had when he was a little boy. At night, he would dream he was one of them, listening to the world.
Jon Berlin enjoys writing fiction. He owns a typewriter.
She would’ve been born in June if I’d done more. I’m just saying she. That feels right to me, her father. This stop light, a street corner, anywhere really, I hold her to me, mentally. For her birthday I send checks to shelters like that’s something. Like gifts.
Michael Gigandet is a retired lawyer in Tennessee. His stories have appeared in Bending Genres, Quarencia Press, Great Weather for Media, Palm Sized Press, Pure Slush and The Hong Kong Literary Journal. His published stories are available at michaelgigandet.com. He administers a music page on Twitter/X at @motobec810.