Tag Archives: surprise

ADRIAN L COOK: Feud

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , ,

Grandma hadn’t spoken to her sister in decades, and Great Aunt Beverly had no children of her own, so it fell to us to clean and sell the house.

It was mostly junk—fusty clothes, chipped ceramic figurines… and a music box with a letter inside, written in grandpa’s hand.

Adrian L. Cook is a professor of drama, humanities, and English at Tarrant County College and a semi-pro percussionist. He lives in Dallas, TX with his wife, Cristee, their children Adrianna and Moshe, a turtle, a lizard, and two rebellious orange cats. When he’s not writing, playing, or grading he can be found trying to stealthily navigate the Matrix.

OLENA ZHELDAK: The secrets of a comfortable life in the turbulent times

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

Natural calamities, mass shootings, shelling, blackouts, forced relocation, alien invasion, and Mars colonization are easier to bear if they meet a predetermined schedule. With all your devices fully charged, alarms on, bug-out bag packed, cats fed, and all-inclusive timelines printed, there is plenty of time to enjoy yourself. As scheduled.

Olena Zheldak was born on November 13, 1981, in Ukraine. After February 24, 2022, having personally survived Russia’s full-scale invasion, she wrote and self-published an autobiographical wartime narrative, “From Irpin with L̶o̶v̶e̶ Pain,” and collaborated with the British author Paul White by writing a lead story for his new edition of “Life in the War Zone.” In 2025, her essay, “Life Interrupted. Resumed. Ended.” was published in the 195 Essays Project by 2084.

NEIL FOSTER: Gary and Jean

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

“What have you done?” said Jean, looking straight ahead, Gary in the passenger seat.

Parked at the kerb, they both watched as a young couple entered their home of thirty years, closing the door firmly behind them. Red car in the driveway. Gates locked.

Gary began to smile, eyes glittering.

Neil Foster is a composer, music therapist and budding writer from Northern Ireland. His music has been featured widely across local and international media, including BBC Radio and TV, and he writes fiction, non fiction and poetry.

WILLIAM J JOEL: Skin Deep

Submissions, , , ,

“Become an Intergalactic Ambassador,” the sign had read. If she’d only knew then what she knew now.

“Fake it till you make it,” she was told by her superiors. But it wasn’t quite so easy once they’d added four legs and two arms and removed your ears for your assignment.

All things are connected. That’s the premise of what William J. Joel does. Each of Mr. Joel’s interests informs each other. Mr. Joel has been teaching computer science since 1983 and has been a writer even longer. His works have recently appeared in Common Ground Review, DASH Literary Journal, The Blend International, Liminality, and North Dakota Quarterly.

DEBORAH TAPPER: View from a Cliff

Adventure, Submissions, , , , ,

He’s impatient, insisting she experiences this fantastic view. It’s spectacular, definitely worth the strenuous climb. Turquoise sea, golden rocks, shy wildflowers. Swooping boat far below, sails billowing. He’s standing right behind her, laughing, pointing everything out. She suspects his uncharacteristic enthusiasm. Sidesteps just in time.

He barely makes a splash.

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

ROBERT CARLBERG: The Time-Traveling Fortune Teller

Adventure, Submissions, , , ,

Even from a distance Herbert could tell the accident hadn’t happened yet. Slipping into the crowd, he quickly scanned their faces, looking for the one. When it came, the noise still startled him, and it wasn’t who he was expecting. He came dangerously close to being involved, as per usual.

This story was written by Brown Sugar Bourbon. It was transcribed and tightened up by Robert Carlberg.

CHELSEA UTECHT: Childhood Bravery

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , ,

If you don’t look, don’t allow a toe to pass the mattress’s precipice, then it can’t get you. This intuition lives in my bones.

But she dared me.
“Baby,” she sneered.

What to do?

I extend my leg.
Laugh triumphantly.

But whatever is under the bed laughs along with me.

Chelsea Utecht is an American abroad in Tbilisi, Georgia where she teaches literature and writing. A recent participant in the renowned Iowa Writers’ Workshop, her work is forthcoming in Shooter Literary Magazine.

WENDY K MAGES: Hornets Treat & Trick

Adventure, Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Elsie, wielding a blue flyswatter, chases a hornet from her kitchen.

Escaping, it returns to the colony’s growing nest hidden in the ceiling. There, hundreds of angry hornets continue chewing through the drywall. The ceiling fan whirs, concealing their activity, until, bursting through, the swarm banishes Elsie from their kitchen.

Wendy K. Mages, a Mercy University Professor, is a Pushcart Prize nominee and an award-winning poet and author. She earned her doctorate in Human Development and Psychology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and her master’s in Theatre at Northwestern University. As a complement to her research on the effect of the arts on learning and development, she performs at storytelling events and festivals in the US and abroad. To learn more about her and her work, and to find links to her published stories and poetry, please visit mercy.edu/directory/wendy-mages

KATRINA RAHN: Good Luck

Adventure, Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Hot and tired. Just one last shelf; Gran’s kitchen is nearly cleared. I can’t see what’s there, probably more dust.

Reaching, I feel something.

I slowly come down the ladder with an old wooden box. Inside is a skeleton key. On its tag, a note in Gran’s handwriting: Good Luck!

Katrina Rahn loves creative challenges of all kinds.

ROBERTA BEACH JACOBSON: Love At First Flight

Amusing, Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

Jamie knew her match was out there, probably traveling first class. Eagerly, she flew Milwaukee to Chicago, but her seatmate was old and boring. She sat alone in first class Chicago to Orlando. At long last, Jamie met her Mr. Right, working at the ticket counter of her local airport.

Roberta Beach Jacobson is the author of Demitasse Fiction: One-Minute Reads for Busy People (Alien Buddha Press, 2023). She lives in Indianola, Iowa with her husband and three cats.