CAROL REEVES: Resolutions

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

It’s January and the air is full of resolve.

Faced with the fresh slate of a new year, folks seek to build the best version of themselves.

But life leaves indelible marks. Fresh slates aren’t clean slates—the space for new resolutions increasingly limited.

This year I will be kind.

A prolific writer, Carol Reeves is loving the freedom and challenge of Flash Fiction. She is frequently published in Flash Fiction Magazine and 50 Word Stories. Her memoir, “All the Little Miracles,” was published in 2022.

JOHN HOLMES: Cyber Attack

Amusing, Submissions, ,

The nline niversal Dictinary: Cyber Attack pdate.
Fllwing the cyber attack in which all r vwels were taken hstage, we are pleased t annnce that we have sccessflly managed t liberate three f the captives. This is an nging incident and we are wrking hard t flly restre r services.

John is either a cyclist that writes or a writer that happens to cycle.

MICHELLE WILSON: Auto-Correct

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Every time I type my to-do list, auto-correct interrupts my train of thought.

I need to
…check the news.
…watch Netflix.
…buy something on Amazon.

Doubt descends. What do I really want? To put down my phone. I press ‘save’ and auto-correct says, Wait.

You forgot something.

Wait.

Stay here…

Michelle Wilson’s words have appeared in Bending Genres, A Thin Slice of Anxiety, Rejection Letters, Potato Soup Journal’s Best of 2021 Anthology, Maudlin House, Litro Magazine, The Drabble, 50-Word Stories, Flash Fiction Magazine, and Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood, among others. Her story ‘Fish Brain’ was nominated for Best of the Net 2022. She lives with her partner in Washington, DC. She can be found at michellekwilson.wordpress.com.

JENNY MATTERN: Autonomy

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , , , ,

Your tail lights flash a goodbye as they sail off down the driveway.

And I remember, again, the way the steam obscured everything when I held you in the bathroom, willing your lungs to bring oxygen into your tiny body, you clinging to me like a lifeboat in a hurricane.

Jenny Mattern is a poet, a crafter of stories, and a cake-for-breakfast enthusiast who lives with her family in Montana. She is represented by Nicole Eisenbraun at Ginger Clark Literary Agency.

LEE NICHOLAS: A Sweet Heist

Amusing, Puns and Wordplay, Submissions, , ,

“Right then,” said Lieutenant Nougat of Chocolatetown Police. “Can you describe the robbers?”

“Y-yes,” faltered Mrs Rum-Truffle, the bank manager. “They were big and b-blocky, very tough, dense, and c-cold. Oh, so cold.”

Lieutenant Nougat got on the radio. “Attention all units – be on the lookout for two hardened caramels.”

Lee Nicholas likes to describe himself in just 15 words, which can sometimes lead to.

GARY THOMSON: Thread of Life

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Sixty-two prisoners huddle as Oberscharfuhrer Misner strolls their lines, culling unfit laborers for the death chambers.
Furman entreats his feverish hand: Still work a needle, draw a thread.

Misner scrutinizes Furman’s wound.
Saunters away.

Did mercy nudge him along?
Or a vanity to have his torn shoulder flap stitched securely?

Gary Thomson once (naively) thought that tailoring centred on trimming trousers and attaching buttons.

JOANNA ALEXANDRA NORLAND: By Royal Decree

Artistic, Submissions, ,

The town crier proclaims that new stories are banned by His Majesty’s Royal Decree. Every idea has been used, each plot exhausted, and all tales worth telling have been told. Further invention is a forbidden waste of effort, effective today.

“A story embargo?” thinks Dreamy Daisy. “What an intriguing premise!”

For playwright Joanna Alexandra Norland, writing is the ultimate freedom.

AMANDA LaMANTIA: Morning

Adventure, Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , ,

Whispers circulate as I await my order. Coffee. Black.

“It’s late, right?” Frazzled voices everywhere. I glance outside. The sun hasn’t risen. Alarming. Newsworthy, and I am on the air soon. There’s yelling. Someone collapses.

Smiling, drink finally in my hand, I step over the fainter and into the darkness.

Amanda comes from New England and has been writing since she was young. She has a degree in English from Colby College and spent many years in the education field before leaving to raise her kids.

HALEY DiRENZO: Coming of Age

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Hands out the sunroof in a beat-up sedan after sneaking out in the middle of the night
turned into red street lights blaring past our bloodshot eyes as we both thought of college the next year in separate cities
turned into two cars driving down new roads instead of one.

Haley DiRenzo is a writer, poet, and practicing attorney specializing in eviction defense. She lives in Colorado with her husband and dog.