Tag Archives: loss

MARLENE CAROSELLI: What the Midwife Saw

Submissions, Touching, , ,

She held out her arms, beseeching me to give her the baby who had miraculously triumphed over death. I helped her cradle the tiny form in her arms. She cooed the whole time, “Renato. Renato.”

This is how he came by his name: he came to life a second time.

Dr. Marlene Caroselli is an author, keynoter, and corporate trainer whose clients include Lockheed Martin, Allied Signal, Department of the Interior, and Navy SEALS. She writes extensively about education, business, self-improvement, and careers and has adjuncted at UCLA and National University. Her first book, The Language of Leadership, was named a main selection by the Executive Book Club. Principled Persuasion, a more recent title, was designated a Director’s Choice by the Doubleday Book Club. Applying Mr. Albert: 365+ Einstein-Inspired Brain Boosts, her 62nd book, will be released by HRD Press in 2018.

ALICE LAM: Dear John

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , ,

I miss reading your gothic paranormal dinosaur erotica poetry.
I miss you playing B-side heavy metal on low volume whilst veganising carnivorous recipes.
I miss picking up a full jar of pickles and standing stupidly with only the lid in my hand.
I missed the meaning of your goodbye note.

Alice Lam moved to Australia from the UK with her partner and they share a house in Melbourne, along with a cheese-seeking, greying Boxer dog. See more at alicelambooks.com.

SUSAN CORNFORD: Spirit

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

That is a photo of my girlfriend; it was the last good day she had before she died.

She doesn’t look sick, but she was. That wasn’t going to stop her doing what she wanted to do. She had spirit.

How do you get used to losing someone like that?

Susan Cornford is a retired public servant living in Perth, Western Australia. She has pieces published or forthcoming in 50-Word Stories, Akashic Books, Antipodean Science Fiction, CarpeArte Journal, Fewer Than 500, Ghost Parachute, Medusa’s Laugh, Speculative 66, Subtle Fiction, Switchblade, The Fable Online, The Gambler, and The Vignette Review. She considers herself an emerging flash writer.

NT FRANKLIN: Alone

Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

They used to fish together every day in the cove.

He lost his lifetime partner but still showed up in the cove. Fishing. Same time every day. Alone.

He would move away when anyone approached.

People knew this would happen when a female loon washed up dead on the shore.

NT Franklin writes after his real job hoping one day to have it be his real job. He writes cozy mystery short stories, nostalgia short stories, and Flash Fiction. When not reading or writing short stories, you might find him fishing or solving crossword puzzles.

SIAVASH SAFARY: If Not Now, Then When?

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

They had planned to buy an RV together and go traveling around the world after their retirement, and today was the day.

So he bought a motorbike, patiently selected the most beautiful bouquet of flowers he could find, brought it to her, washed her tombstone, and started his journey alone.

Siavash Safary wrote this story.

JIM DOSS: Star Gazing

Submissions, Touching, , ,

“Computer, retrieve memory AF-278451.”

The tablet fills with dream-like images of the first time they met, her curls, smile that lit up the room. The wine spilled deliberately to mark her as his own.

That night became every night, became 20 years. A galaxy of silence since death took her.

Jim Doss lives in Sykesville, Maryland, and earns his living as a software engineer. He has previously published two books of poems: Learning to Talk Again and What Remains. In partnership with Werner Schmitt, he also published a book of German translations entitled The Last Gold of Expired Stars: The Complete Poems of Georg Trakl 1908 – 1914. In his spare time, he is an editor for the Loch Raven Review.

SUSAN GALE WICKES: Crime of Passion

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Yesterday he took me to heaven.
Then he took me to the cleaners.

Strangest one-night stand ever.

“You want a beer?” I’d asked.

“No, I’m good.”

Yes, he was.
So was his accomplice.

All my valuables, gone… except for those I carried with me.

Only one of them was missing.

Susan Gale Wickes is from Indiana. She enjoys writing and thinking about writing.

ALICE LAM: Courting the Past

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

The man’s hair is grey and his face worn with much thought. With gravity and authority, he announces the only possible verdict. The other man looks back at him in fear.

The next day, one of the orderlies takes away the retired judge’s mirror and the doctor ups his meds.

Alice Lam moved to Australia from the UK with her partner and they share a house in Melbourne, along with a cheese-seeking, greying Boxer dog.

Alice’s website can be found at alicelambooks.com.

TAYLOR STUCKEY: Teddy

Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

A middle-aged man and woman sit in movie theater seats with broken hinges. Distortions of an animated film flicker in the reflection of their eyes, accompanied by the laughter of children ringing in their ears.

The woman clutches a tattered teddy bear to her chest. The man squeezes her hand.

Taylor Stuckey is an English major at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. She started dabbling in writing short fiction less than a year ago, and hasn’t stopped since. This is her first published sotry.

DIANE MALK: Our Last Sock Hop

Amusing, Submissions, Touching, , , , , ,

We clung to each other in the dryer. Spinning socks became whirling dervishes in a passionate dance.

Unceremoniously thrown onto the hard surface. I was the only one left. Widowed now, and no one else can be my mate.

You’re gone.

I’ve resorted to cuddling up to a lint ball.

Making people laugh, especially while they’re swallowing big spoonfuls of soup, is one of Diane Malk’s goals. She is a writer from Colorado who shudders at the sight of snow every winter and is certain she lived in the tropics in a previous life. Diane has been published in Mad Swirl, Hackwriters, and Scarlet Leaf Review. She is working on her first book and always has a craft project in the works.