SOPHIE PELL: Mis-Matched

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

A house at odds with itself. Sideboard of fragile knick-knacks next to a ping-pong table, as if trying to please too many people at once.

Slotted into the empty space on the floral-covered sofa, between a pair of boxing gloves and a set of garden shears, I fit right in.

Sophie Pell is a writer with a background in film and television production. Recent projects include the short story Inspiration, published in Chewin the Fat Magazine and A Country Christmas which was chosen as an Official Selection at the Adapted Screenplay Awards. She has upcoming publications soon to be announced and is a contributing writer for the Crumbling Creatives Club, a comedy sketch group based in London.

SANDRA JAMES: Clouds

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , ,

Clouds afford a soft landing. I climbed that stairway to Heaven, found you, and snatched you back. I didn’t want you to leave; couldn’t let you go; wasn’t ready to say goodbye. We eluded St Peter, leapt from the pearly gates. Down, down. I wake with tears on my pillow.

Sandra James leads a writing group in Heathcote, Australia.

DANIEL WEBSTER: The Gloom

Artistic, Submissions, ,

I found him in the gloom of the depths.
I never saw his back, nor could I see his face.
Standing on two legs not unlike mine, he reached out a hand to the wall.
He started to climb, I in turn followed.
Mile after mile, it’s been getting brighter.

Daniel lives and works in Dublin.

HALEY DiRENZO: Good Armor

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Kids snickered at my leopard-print pants. Left them in my locker. Colleagues questioned my pastel blazers. Changed to black. Guests gossiped about my chartreuse funeral gown. But there was no changing from inside the casket. I had finally learned a good outfit was the best armor for facing the unknown.

Haley DiRenzo is a writer, poet, and practicing attorney specializing in eviction defense. Her poetry and flash pieces have appeared in Flash Boulevard, Eunoia Review, and Bright Flash Literary Review, among others. She lives in Colorado with her husband and dog.

SC SHELBY: My Sister’s Shadow

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

I haunt my older sister, entangling our shadows, speaking simultaneously, infuriating her with how much I want to be like her—my idol.

As the car plows through the red light, the intersection, she doesn’t glance up from her phone. Doom-scrolling, appropriately.

I see it. I follow close behind her.

S. C. Shelby is a versatile author with a background in literature and creative writing. Her work spans children’s stories, speculative fiction, tragic dramas, and situational haiku. Under her dog’s name, she has contributed copywriting to various blogs and websites. Outside of writing, she enjoys reading, crafting, spending time with dogs, and travelling. See more at scshelbyauthor.wordpress.com.

STACEY ANWIN: Grief

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

“Excuse me.”
An arm extends into my vision, an item is retrieved, the arm withdrawn.
I continue standing there, unblinking, eyes flooded with tears.
Five days ago my life was overflowing, like these shelves in the hardware store.
I start to sob.
Why are there so many types of brushes?

Stacey Anwin is writer, researcher and educator. Most of her writing combines forms and genres to capture the complexity of lived experience. Her book, The Writing Project: Recovering the Writing Self and Regaining Agency through Writing About Domestic Abuse contains fiction, nonfiction and scholarship. Find her at staceyanwin.com.

KIRSTEN KELLEY: Ready

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

There I was, face to face with Death. He was polished, dressed in a suit and tie, and wearing spectacles. He didn’t look how I’d expected. He had kind eyes. “Are you ready?” he asked. I shook my head. Was anyone? He carried me away, whispering apologetically as we went.

Kirsten Kelley wrote this story.

JENNIFER L FREED: To a Tourist in the Grand Canyon

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

You were used to the certainty of your body, of your daily ten-mile run. You never doubted you could hike ten miles in a day. That morning, the canyon walls rippled with bands of sunlit color. You’d never known such heat. You’d never have believed it could stop your heart.

Jennifer L Freed is author of When Light Shifts, a memoir-in-poems about the aftermath of her mother’s cerebral hemorrhage. This story was inspired by her recent visit to the Grand Canyon and a news item about the number of deaths there this year. Please visit jfreed.weebly.com to learn more.