Tag Archives: life

BOB THURBER: Rooming House Custodian

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

I rolled him onto his back.

His eyes were wide open.

Blood trickled from his mouth.

I touched his throat, feeling for a pulse.

It was a dumb thing to do.

Cold as he was, there remained a warmth in his eyes,
as though some reflection had gotten trapped there.

Bob Thurber is the author of “Paperboy: A Dysfunctional Novel” and four collections of short fiction. Regarded as a master of Flash and Micro Fiction, his work has appeared in Esquire and other magazines, been anthologized 60 times, received a long list of of awards, and been utilized in schools and colleges throughout the world. He resides in Massachusetts. Visit his website at BobThurber.net.

LILLIAN: Tree Fall

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

In a tree
I fall
And scrape a knee
To find myself bleeding
All over the place
But somehow the next amazing day
It heals completely

I look back at the big deal I made
Wishing that mistakes could go away
Like the one I made
Just the other day

Lillian, an 11-year-old-kid, really wishes that life could be perfect where no one made any mistakes.

JENISE COOK: Ghost Story

Artistic, Submissions, , , , , ,

I ran into a ghost the other day. I think it was a ghost. It moaned a lot, and rattled chains like old Marley did when he visited Scrooge. I blinked and the vision cleared.

The ghost was me, twenty years into the future, chained to a gray, corporate desk.

Jenise Cook lives with her husband in the north-central highlands of Arizona where it snows. Jenise enjoys visitors to @jenisecook on Twitter, and at JeniseCook.com where you can find a list of her published works.

CONNELL WAYNE REGNER: Perennials

Submissions, Touching, , , , , ,

She’d sit looking at the perennials starting to bud. Spring was in the air, with the promise of warmer days ahead.

She loved new life springing forth from her planting efforts.

Today the backfilling was done quietly, without hope of life being renewed, as we said goodbye at her graveside.

Connell writes a bit.

ANDY HEDGECOCK: A Sense of Perspective

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , ,

Paper crinkles as she walks over a mosaic of manila and white envelopes in her hallway – bills, warnings and notices.

Outside, on the way to the bar, she is ambushed by moonlight and reflects that banks, bosses and former lovers will all be obliterated before Neil Armstrong’s bootprints. She smiles.

Andy Hedgecock lives and works in rural Nottinghamshire, UK, close to an Iron Age earthwork, the remains of a Roman fort, a decommissioned coalmine and a disused railway line. It’s a place of scars, erasures and stories.

JANINE IWAYA: Mom’s Poetry

Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

My mother’s memory of the poems surprised me. I’d sit with her and listen to her recite, after years of never hinting that she knew any poetry. I wonder if she was reminded of the young farm girl she once was, standing in front of her father, practicing until perfect.

Janine lives and writes in Portland, Oregon where she can’t help but be influenced by the leafless trees shrouded in fog. Winter has its beauty.

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: First Winter After She Left

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

First winter after Mother leaves, sister Nancy and I shovel snow, hands weighed down. Flakes fly, whirling seductresses. We clear faster. Flakes cover clearness. Nature takes. Gives people wanderlust, reveals darkness beneath starched smiles. We try to make everything perfect. Keep clearing. We trip. Keep trying. Keep tripping. Don’t surrender.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA program in fiction. His work is forthcoming or has been published in journals such as 50 Word Stories, Silent Auctions, City. River. Tree., and Ariel Chart.

JON FAIN: Nature

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, ,

The bird that pecked holes below the bedroom window was back, drawn by the vibrations from the space heater. Ed rolled to face what had been Emily’s side. The cat, who purred as soon as you made eye contact, stared back. Wide-awake, they listened to the drumming of the bird.

Jon Fain has published frequently in literary, commercial, and online publications. More of his fiction can be found in the vaults of Menda City Review, Word Riot, DiddleDog, Verbsap, and Winning Writers.

DONALD A RANARD: The War Hero

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

You can do this, he told himself. He repeated three times the three sentences he would recite to himself while on patrol: I am a warrior of courage. I train in the middle of the fire. I go to the places that scare me.

Then he climbed out of bed.

Donald A. Ranard’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Flash Fiction Magazine, 100 Word Story, Byliner, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and elsewhere.

PETER LI-PING: Master Rebel

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , ,

Stepping between moments black and sublime
He remembers the hours before the Design
How to bring this Magician back home?
How to say “Brother, your work is now done”?
Your skill unmatched we agree
But in travels so complex timeless and broad
You have never once
Been unloved or alone

Peter Li-ping sees the attraction of living outside the Law but he remembers the words of that other (somewhat romantic) master: “To live outside the law you must be honest…”