BOB THURBER: Divorce Papers

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

She insisted they both sign tonight.

“I’ll deliver them tomorrow,” she said, producing a pen.

“They’ll be filed with the court by end of day.”

He remembered the pen. A Christmas gift. Not cheap. Years old.

He strained to remember the inscription.

She snapped her fingers. “Hey. Where’d you go?”

Bob Thurber is the author of six books. 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 awards, and been utilized in schools and colleges throughout the world. He resides in Massachusetts. Visit his website at BobThurber.net.

JEFFREY REEVES: App

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Amy added her middle name to the post and refreshed the page.

Maybe this time would be different; maybe the right one would text.

She closed her laptop, picked up her phone, and started scrolling. The sounds of the crowded coffee shop fell away.

It was almost like being alone.

Jeffrey Reeves is a former communications director living in Tennessee. He loves books, dogs, and coffee.

HEGE A JOKOBSEN LEPRI: Compassionate Care Villa

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

They call him Smith now. Oddly fitting. He can’t move or speak, but propped up, he can spot the pond. The lotuses tight like eye-balls torn out of their sockets. The aspen trees white as bones dissolving in lye. From his care home bed, a slow drip of happy memories.

Hege A. Jakobsen Lepri is a Norwegian-Canadian translator and writer (and obsessive haikuist), currently living in Norway. Recent work is featured in St. Katherine Review, Neither Fish nor Foul, The Disappointed Housewife, Fictive Dream, Best Small Fictions, Atticus Review, The New Quarterly, Room Magazine and others. You find her at www.hegeajlepri.ca

RICHARD R DiPIRRO: The Last Casualty

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

At dawn, Private Antonio Felipe became the unluckiest man in the world.

Peace was declared ten minutes prior, but no one told the bullet that killed him. The sound of victory traveled triumphantly through the hole in Antonio’s head. The bullet was sorry, but it was only doing its job.

Richard R. DiPirro is the author of the psychological sci-fi novel, Eaten by Wolves. His short fiction has appeared in various magazines and anthologies, including Metonym, Tales of the Strange, Carpe Noctem by Tyche Books, and The Lindenwood Review. He is currently seeking representation for his second novel, Black Linen and Biscuits.

MARJIE ALONSO: The Recall

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

She stands at the shoreline, looks out at the bay, then back at me.

“Alice, come!” It’s the second time I’ve called. She turns, slowly, like an ocean liner coming about. Her head dips to sniff, and then she approaches. Slowly.

The letter, but not the spirit, of the law.

Marjie Alonso lives in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where she can be found walking and pleading with her beagle to drop that. Her work has appeared in Brevity, The Huffington Post, Cognoscenti, and elsewhere. Her substack can be found at piecesofstring.substack.com.

STEVEN LEMPRIÈRE: Flatlining

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

I’d turned over a new leaf, but then Fern took root on an adjacent barstool.

“A whisky sour,” she purred, fronds unfurling in my direction.

I sensed trouble, with a capital T, and straightaway knew she’d unplug a life-support machine to charge her phone, but hey, what a last breath.

Steven is a man of few words.

MONICA CALLAN: Double Fault

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

God had not turned up for the men’s final at Wimbledon and three front row seats sat empty.

Jesus wandered around asking, ‘Has anyone seen my dad?’

It was only when he reverted to ‘Have you found God yet?’, that he was manhandled by security and escorted from the tournament.

Monica Callan is a housewife from Donegal, Ireland who started writing during the covid pandemic.

PAUL D’ARCY: The Cache We Carry

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , , ,

Her name. Home town. LinkedIn. Facebook. The Team page on her company’s website. The obituary I found, then closed, then reopened three times.

Nuked it all.

Fifty-six years old. Healthy. Pillar of the community. Loved by all. Survived by no one. Abandoned by the only man she ever loved.

Me.

Paul D’Arcy tells stories. All real. Most brief. You can read more at pauldrc.com pauldrc.com.

TOM MAHER: Life Unlived

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Ate well; never drank. Walked; never ran. Looked both ways crossing the street, but otherwise kept his head down. Never loved. And the idea of kids was far too big. Lived to ninety-five, settled down into a hole in the ground, and nobody knew what to write on the headstone.

Tom Maher is a writer from London who was shortlisted for the 2025 Bridport Prize.