Tag Archives: pride

BRYONY LORIMER: Peer Pressure

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

First day of school, jostling for position at the bus stop.

Rory’s acting cocky. Just back from Canada, he’s sporting a new puffa jacket. Superior filling, not the polyester of his peers.

The bus arrives and they swarm towards the open doors.

POP goes Rory’s jacket, and goose feathers fly.

Bryony Lorimer is a Scottish writer living in Edmonton, Alberta. Her work has appeared in Capital City Press Anthology (a project of the Edmonton Public Library) and is forthcoming in DarkWinter Literary Magazine.

MATTHEW EICHENLAUB: Shame

Artistic, Submissions, , , , , , ,

Sometimes, turning a key, folding laundry,
coach will feel it, like yesterday.

First inning, his young pitcher struggled.
So, he pulled him, like the Red Sox
do on TV. Red-faced, the boy stormed off

slamming his glove to the ground.
His father, sitting in the stands, felt it too.

Matthew house-sits near a lake in Maine. Sometimes, the loons, who own the lake, will hoot and howl, yodel and tremolo, like no tomorrow.

LYNN KOZLOWSKI: Keeping Up Appearances

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , ,

The old man can no longer drive this whole trip himself, starting predawn without stop to make his brother’s place by lunch. His wife leaves late, drives slow, takes breaks. But she gives him the last mile, so he might seem again, on arrival, something of what he was before.

Lynn Kozlowski’s writing has appeared in such places as The Quarterly, The Malahat Review, pif magazine, Poetry Breakfast, and failbetter.com. He has a volume of short pieces, Historical Markers.

STEPHEN TILDEN: Earth’s Reply

Amusing, Submissions, , , , ,

Your evaluation of our planet is a total fabrication—a hoax based on bad science. Our twilights are even more spectacular, and no one suffers anymore from the cold unless they crank up their A/C—and if you don’t submit a serious bid, we’re going to blow it all up!

Stephen Tilden is retired and strapped in for whatever happens next. This was written as a reply to S Govinjaraj’s Adieu Earth.

J BOSLEY: The Book

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , , ,

He owns no books, except for the Koran, but this one he must have – his daughter’s first novel. Defying Allah, he swipes it and reads in the dim light of his taxi. He will call tonight to tell her of his pride. He hopes this time she will answer.

J. Bosley has previously published poetry in New Letters and Invictus and had a play published: Fun (Dramatic Publishing). Fun has been produced and translated into German, Flemish, and Romanian for productions in those lands. J’s screen adaptation of Fun appeared at Sundance and other festivals and had a brisk commercial release, opening at the Film Forum in in New York City. Another play, Chiquita, was recently produced as part of the Downtown Urban Arts Festival at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater.

CAROL TYMANN: Should Old Acquaintance…

Amusing, Submissions, Touching, , , ,

Diana saw Him enter the room… with Her. First time since Their eight years ended. She wanted to run but stayed, coached herself: be brave, be friendly, meet the wife. They’re coming over; breathe… chest out… further out. Here they come, big smile.

And…

There he goes right past her.

Carol Tymann is a retired kindergarten teacher who loves to play with her granddaughter, read, write, cook, and work out.

DEBORAH TAPPER: Starting Over

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Although she hasn’t seen her abusive ex-husband for years, she recognises that arrogant swagger instantly, the contemptuous sneer. He’s heading straight for her. She would’ve cowered and hidden once, but things are very different now. One leap and he’s a memory under velvet paws. She struts away, tail held high.

Deborah writes at an old desk surrounded by five hundred pet bugs.

TACHIBANA KEN: Note from a Castaway

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

“Solitary” is an obnoxious euphemism.

Left adrift for far too long; you rush to reel me in only after loneliness manifests as a cry for help. Rejecting an uncertain hand half-extended, my head swirls, stranded in a sea of dissonance. To then soften your sin with semantics? I’d rather drown.

橘ケン (Tachibana Ken) is an aspiring MMA fighter.

JIM GUNSHINAN: Spilled Milk

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , ,

“You could do surgery on my kitchen floor,” she said.

At dinner, I accidentally spilled my glass.

Mom got up and walked slowly around the table, spilling the other seven glasses—64 ounces of icy cold milk. It wet my jeans, ran down my legs, filled up my Sear’s Jeepers.

Jim is a versatile and experienced writer and editor of nonfiction and creative nonfiction works. He blogs about and has published articles about green home building and renovation, energy, the environment, and Climate Change. He has also published articles on science and spirituality, personal essays, and poetry. Jim lives in Walnut Creek, California, with his partner and their Labradoodle, who is out of work as a therapy dog for hospice patients due to COVID-19.

JOSHUA ADDISON: Triumph

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

The throngs of people erupt as the parade enters the city, my chariot at the head outshining Helios himself. The crowd cheers hysterically as I smile and turn my laureled head in recognition.

My euphoria is interrupted by a soft whisper,

Caesar, you are but a man…

Hmph, not today.

Joshua loves historical fiction and thought it might be interesting in a microfiction format, perfect for those tiny, nuanced moments in history that are never conveyed in a textbook.