Tag Archives: disease

RUTH Z DEMING: Will She Win the Battle?

Submissions, Touching, ,

On Monday, she looked at the Tarot cards on her bed.
On Tuesday, she fondled the Blarney Stone.
On Wednesday, she rolled a pine cone in her hand.
On Thursday, she kissed the cat goodbye.
On Friday, she wrote thank-you letters.
On Saturday, she slept.
On Sunday, dead of cancer.

Ruth Z Deming has been published in lit mags including Hektoen International, Literary Yard and River Poets Journal. A psychotherapist, she runs New Directions Support Group for people and families affected by depression and bipolar disorder. She lives in Willow Grove, a suburb of Philadelphia. Her blog is ruthzdeming.blogspot.com.

DIVYA: The Girl in the Picture

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

It was a ghastly picture of a girl who seemed my age, but pale-skinned her head shaved. “Whose picture is it, in my drawer, Ms. Bevins?” I asked the doctor.

A few minutes later I overheard Ms. Bevins instructing the nurse to take the mirror off of my drawer.

Divya is a story-teller, sorehead, whiner, occasionally a Pollyanna. (To sum it up – a personal/ lifestyle blogger!) She works for an IT company by day and blogs by night. Divya lives in India.

MICHAEL COOLEN: A Sky Filled With Bats

Adventure, Stories, ,

In a remote African village I watched in wonder as thousands of fruit bats blotted out the moon as they crossed the river to settle in the mango trees to feed and sleep.

Soon I learned that the villagers ate the bats.

Later I learned that the bats transmit Ebola.

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

KING KOOL: The Bandit and the Genie

Amusing, Bad Genie, Submissions, , , , , , ,

A bandit polished the bronze lamp he stole from the caravan. A genie materialized in a puff of smoke.

“For releasing me, I will grant you one wish,” she said.

“I wish for the power to lay waste to my enemies.”

So she turned him into a highly contagious bacteria.

This is the second in a series of stories from King Kool, who has previously contributed multiple other series.

M. ELAINE MOORE: The Thing About Love

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , , , , , ,

He just can’t leave, thank God. He loves me too much, knows how much I need him. The vet said he’d be long gone by now. Months ago, in fact. There was no hope. What better way to prove them wrong than to simply thrive, living on love and devotion?

M. Elaine Moore is a North Carolina-based fiction writer and poet. Her work can be found in print in The Island Breeze, and Outer Banks publication, and online at Foliate Oak Literary Journal, Four and Twenty, and The Camel Saloon.