Tag Archives: family

ERNESTO SANCHEZ: Drowned Whispers

Artistic, Submissions, , , , , , ,

She tugs on my sleeve eagerly: “Play with me daddy, please?”

I glance down at her and smile, my beautiful daughter… So hopeful.

I turn back to my computer screens, the telescope’s hum drowning her whispers, the plight of an astronomer searching for intelligent life, somewhere in the infinite void.

Ernesto Sanchez is a Mexican-American speculative fiction writer specializing in hard science fiction that explores the intersection of technology, humanity, and the future. With a graduate background in information technology and project management, he brings technical depth and real-world insight to his imaginative storytelling. Originally from Los Angeles, Ernesto now lives with his wife and daughter in Washington State.

LILIAN POMEROY EDMONDS: Memories

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

The scent of my dead grandmother drifts past me, luring me home. I return willingly to her, following the rosewater scent of my childhood. Like last summer’s relentless rains driven by the early winds of a devastating hurricane, memories long buried flood inside my studio. Too late to forget. Regrets.

A short story and creative nonfiction writer born in Pennsylvania, Lilian resides on the west coast of Florida. After living three decades in California, she trekked back east in 2003 to a state where the sun shines brutally hot most of the year. An inveterate wanderer, former weekly journalist and technical writer, Lilian dreams of moving to points unknown. While she works on a memoir series grounded in her discovery of her grandmother’s poems written during the years 1899 – 1931, she writes flash fiction and 50-word stories.

TARA L KELLEY: Heirloom Variety

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Dad’s out of town, so I’m tending the nursery—misting the little buds, tousling their leaves. I put some Mozart on, then Gordon Lightfoot, so Dad’s guitar-playing will feel familiar. On day four, he wants an update. No one’s flourishing yet, I tell him, but we’re all doing just fine.

Tara L. Kelley is just here to write.

GRACIE LYLE: Grandpa

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , ,

Mom knocked on my door after school and told me we were having dinner at 6. We always ate dinner, but when we had dinner, that meant at the table. With napkins and an important conversation.

“Who died?” I asked when I sat down.

“That’s not funny,” Mom said. “Grandpa.”

Gracie Lyle is an emerging writer from Brooklyn, NY. Her work has appeared in Elegant Literature. You can find her online at @gracielyle.bsky.social.

DANIELLE SUTHERBY: Between Us and Home

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

Screeching. Breaths held. Brace for impact. Hands grip wheel. Memories flicker to their two children. Of Lance’s party planned for next week. He prays to a God he doesn’t believe in. “Please let us be there for our son’s birthday.” The deer stands, oblivious to its impact on four lives.

Danielle Sutherby is an emerging writer from Boston, MA who loves writing short fiction and flash fiction.

JENNY MATTERN: Sea-Sister

Adventure, Submissions, , , ,

The sea delivers soft-edged bits of glass and storm-tossed shells.

On a high tide, it brought my sister, soft-edged and storm-tossed with hair like fire.

We railed against the waves when they stole her back.

Even now, my eyes comb the greedy sea for the gleam of her iridescent tail.

Jenny Mattern is a poet, a crafter of stories, and a cake-for-breakfast enthusiast who lives with her family in Montana.

OMAR RIHAS: Breakfast for Three

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

The sound of eggshells cracking echoed across the room. The sizzling bacon in the pan was soon joined by the eggs as the man hurried around the kitchen.

His wife takes a seat at the table and her eyes tear up. “You have made an extra serving again,” she whispered.

Omar Rihas is travelling the land of words, seeking to find stories and tales that bring wonder and comfort. Literature fascinates him and he is constantly on the hunt for new and exciting things.

MIRIAM STEIN: One Girl’s Secret

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

She knew her parents wouldn’t approve,
Of her lover
With a different religion and culture
From a faraway country
Studying at a nearby university, close to hers
She lied she’d be at the library
And spent hours with him
So she never told her parents,
Even when he left her.

Miriam Stein is a social worker, advocacy consultant, and author of Make Your Voice Matter With Lawmakers: No Experience Necessary. Her writings have appeared in local and national publications, including 50wordstories.com. See more at makeyourvoicematter.com.

RS NELSON: Like Father, Like Son

Artistic, Submissions, , , , , ,

The boy applies the self-adhesive mustache. His mother holds back tears, registering the striking resemblance with his father. Someday, he might also fight in a foreign war, and his broken body might return to his wife and son.

“Do you like it, Mom?”

She smiles, caressing the rough, artificial fibers.

R.S. Nelson (she/her) is a Latina writer who lives and finds inspiration in Southern California. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Flash Fiction Magazine, Every Writer, SciFiSat, Every Day Fiction, Twin Bird Review, and elsewhere.

MARI KITINA: What We Left Behind

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , , ,

On train rides to the province with my grandma, the wheels and tracks did most of the talking. I’d patiently wait for her to reach into the large pockets she’d sewn onto her dress. Together, we’d crack and peel hard boiled eggs and let the shells fly from our window.

Mari Kitina writes to find beauty in the mundane and to uncover the secrets that live within her. She is a self-published author of Back to Dance: How I Revived My Dance and My Spirit and How You Can Too, a personal memoir and self-help book born out of her passion to inspire the creative spark in others.