Tag Archives: parent

NANCY STEPHAN: Visiting My Daughter

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

For the first time in 15 years, I couldn’t find your place.

I parked where I always park, but the whole area looked unfamiliar. Valentine roses in hand, I walked around for 11 minutes before giving up.

I should’ve asked at the office but couldn’t admit to losing you twice.

Nancy Stephan is a writer and poet living in Atlanta, GA. She won Georgia Author of the Year (GAYA) for her memoir, The Truth About Butterflies, and spends much of her time reading and writing poetry. See more at nancystephan.com.

ANGELA CARLTON: Wearing Clouds

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , , ,

You pushed me high on swings at five, mother, so I could FLY.

Sometimes, I’d jump on merry-go-rounds, spinning-spinning, giggling, catching breath, before I was in your grasp.

After cancer took you, I found my way back, swinging, spinning, at nineteen, you, a faint whisper in the breeze, wearing clouds.

Angela Carlton’s fiction has been published in Every Writer, Everyday Fiction, 6S, 50 Word Stories, Spillwords Press, and Paragraph Planet. In 2018, her story “The Roommates,” was made into a short film. In 2023, her story “Swallowed,” was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. See more at Angela Carlton Stories & Art on Facebook.

SI CHEN: A Swing Has Two Ropes

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

My daughter loves swinging. She can ride it for hours. I wondered what she found so captivating about it. One night, after putting her to bed, I sat on the swing behind our house. Nothing happened. The difference, I realized, is she has a pair of hands behind her, pushing.

Si Chen is an oceanographer by training and a fiction writer by instinct. He is working on a collection of short stories.

LAURA LEVIN: Birthday Remembered and Forgotten

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

“Happy Birthday, Ma.”

The phone had rung ten times before she’d picked up. “Oh, hi. Hang on a sec…”

Cell on the counter, she cooed at Herman, “Ah, sweet boy… Do you want a widdle tweat?”

It wasn’t a second before she returned, or a minute. It was a lifetime.

Laura Levin lives in New York’s Hudson Valley where she teaches writing as an adjunct professor. She has an MA from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University.

JAMES WHITMAN: Parenting on the Stairs

Submissions, Touching, , , , , , ,

Nobody tells you how much parenting you’ll do on stairs. (And, me, scared of heights.) From tying shoelaces, to exploring Souter Lighthouse, to throwing socks at one another.

Now I sit on the stairs outside your room, waiting for the WhatsApp message that’ll say you’re not coming over this weekend.

James Whitman writes from Sunderland. There are twenty-six stairs in his home, and he has parented on every single one of them.

COLBY WRASSE: Birthday Cards Made by Little Hands

Artistic, Submissions, , , , , ,

My daughter’s face no longer reminds me of the little girl who ran to hug me every night. The bedtime stories I told her have been forgotten. Her world is full of complexity, and mine is missing something. She crosses the stage and walks the aisle, further away from me.

Colby Wrasse has worn many different hats in his life. None of them fit very well, but he has faked it well enough to get by alright. Through these years writing in some form has flitted in and out of his life, coming to rest just long enough to catch a glimpse.

JOE PEARSON: Aubade for My Daughter

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

I fought the night. Chose cold screens and exhaustion.

But now the dawn cries “Daddy” through the static. What new joy can we uncork today? We scream and laugh and stick out our tongues. Find new ways to pause time.

Another day will never come. We’ll live this one forever.

Joe Pearson is a British fiction writer living in Paris with an interest in human responses to crises — whether personal, social, or environmental. His work often deals with themes of climate change, mental health, masculinity and fatherhood.

SETH ROSENMAN: Secret

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

He buckles her into her car seat. “Be right back,” he says.

Leaving the door open, he returns the cart to a nearby stall.

He turns and sees a strange woman talking to her. He shouts, and she quickly walks away. He runs back.

“I can’t tell you,” she says.

Seth Rosenman is currently writing a list of different ways to say “I told you so.” His poems and short fiction have appeared in 50-Word Stories, Microfiction Monday Magazine, The Bookends Review, and elsewhere. His blog goes by infiniteseth.blogspot.com.

GEORGENE SMITH GOODIN: Family Secrets

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

Your husband takes a DNA test after his father dies. Your father-in-law was a traveling salesman who really got around; maybe there’s siblings.

You test as moral support, secretly hoping a girl with a moon face, the pinkest skin, a girl you’ve held just once, is looking for you, too.

Georgene Smith Goodin’s work has appeared in numerous publications, and has won the “Mash Stories” flash fiction competition. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, the cartoonist Robert Goodin, and their four children. Follow her on Bluesky at @gsmithgoodin.bsky.social.

TIM BOITEAU: Nomophobia

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

He adored phones so much, he wished he could become one. Wanted a squircle-shaped body; gleaming, touch-sensitive skin. Wanted to be able to update and slip into pockets, to be held and gazed upon for endless hours every day. Maybe if he broke his mother’s, he could take its place.

Tim Boiteau is an award-winning writer living in Michigan with his family. He is the author of three novels, most recently The Nilwere (Grendel Press, 2024). See more at timboiteau.wordpress.com