Tag Archives: heat

JENNIFER L FREED: To a Tourist in the Grand Canyon

September 23, 2024Artistic, Submissionsexertion, Grand Canyon, heat, Jennifer L. Freed, overreachingTim

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.

NICK YOUNG: August

August 2, 2023Artistic, Submissionschildhood, heat, memories, Nick Young, nostalgia, summerTim

It came down in shimmering waves, the dog days sun. Cousins, we lay in shaded grass by a languid pond, reverie spiriting us to faraway realms. And when dusk eased the fever, we laughed as the juice of ripe watermelon ran cool and sweet from our lips through sticky fingers.

Nick Young is a retired award-winning CBS News Correspondent. In addition to 50-Word Stories, his writing has appeared in more than two dozen publications including the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, The Garland Lake Review, The Remington Review, The San Antonio Review, The Best of CaféLit 11 and Vols. I and II of the Writer Shed Stories anthologies. He lives outside Chicago.

MICHAEL WALKER: Bad Day At Work

June 28, 2022Amusing, Submissions, Touchingcoping, funny, heat, life, Michael Walker, stress, summerTim

I go out to soak my knees in the above-ground pool. All the pool toys come to rub against me like affectionate pets. HELLO vinyl doughnut, I say. HELLO black and gray faux truck tire. HELLO burgundy lounge chair that one day I plan to conquer. HELLO. Yes, Daddy’s home.

Michael Walker is a writer living in Newark, Ohio. He is the author of two books: 7-22 and The Vampire Henry. He has also seen his poetry and prose published in PIF, Sky Island Journal, and The Adelaide Literary Journal.

ALISON BERNASCONI: Blue

May 27, 2022Artistic, Submissions, Top StoriesAlison Bernasconi, family, heat, memories, metaphor, relief, swimmingTim

My eyes still ache. My eyes are the ocean. Pale water swirls in my irises. It’s what I miss, what I crave.

Church at 7:00 AM. Sticky petticoats, stifling dresses, sickly sweet incense.

Home for toast and tea. Then all seven in the wagon. To merge with the silken sea.

Alison Bernasconi is a full-time educator, part-time swimmer, and occasional reader.

TIM SEVENHUYSEN: Siestas Are For Hot People

September 17, 2009Oddcamping stove, egg, heat, hot, weatherTim

It was so oppressively hot outside that I could’ve fried an egg on my forehead (so long as I was wearing a camping stove as a hat and had a tank of propane and some matches handy).

So I went inside, turned on the air conditioning, and took a nap.

C- in Villain 101

July 20, 2009Amusing, Puns and WordplayBullman, cool, Doctor Awful, electricity, fire, heat, ice, pun, shock, superhero, supervillainTim

“Shocking, isn’t it? Can you take the heat? Try not to lose your cool!”

Bullman sighed. “So that’s why you have the electric eel, the soldering iron, and the snowball? Give me a break. This is embarassing.”

Doctor Awful shrugged. “I have a plasma shotgun behind me, if you’d prefer.”

Normally today’s story would be from a guest author, since it’s a Monday, but during the Contest period Mondays will be used for normal stories.