The story of the week for March 2 to 6 is…
Busy not missing you by Zoe M
CECILE PECORARO: A Watched Pot Always Boils if You Wait Long Enough
She watched the pot. And it did boil. The water bubbled slowly at first, then rapidly. Her face was so close that a drop of the hot liquid splashed in her eye, waking her up from denial. It was true. All true. She had to accept it. And move on.
Cecile lives in Northern California where she enjoys the best weather in the world.
OLIVER CUBILLOS: On Ice
Hot breath and runny noses. Gloved hands and empty promises. Lovestruck boys and an endless river. That inchoate storm and no care for tomorrow. Careful steps and gentle motion. Push me, push me, and I got you, I got you. Crashing through ice and falling to the center of everything.
Oliver Cubillos is a writer and filmmaker from Los Angeles, California. He holds a BFA in Media Arts Production with a minor in literature from Emerson College. His work is published or forthcoming in Heavy Feather Review, BULL Magazine, Free Flash Fiction, and elsewhere.
NINA FEINBERG: 1933
Sitting within the home at night by lamplight, what comparisons did the German people draw? What murmurs from the radio cut through into the room?
Did someone speak the fear aloud: are we like them, is this like now? Did someone else say: No, we live within a different time.
Nina Feinberg is a writer, photographer and distance runner. She lives in Brooklyn, NY and works in user experience design.
JOHN H. DROMEY: Pushing All the Riot Buttons
“Wellness check,” the policeman said. “Are you okay, ma’am?
“A cut from a tin can lid,” the woman said, holding up a bandaged finger. “Otherwise, I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
“You replied to your fiancé’s recent romantic emails with wildly enigmatic emojis. Maybe you should give him a call.”
John H. Dromey has had short fiction, humor, and poetry published in hundreds of venues.
MIKE GOGULSKI: Telos
Kurzweil’s singularity: what a joke. It’s 2045.
Dodging the digesters, humanity’s residue hoards its rubbish, enshadowed by the titanic datacenters of unremembered hubris. Within, stochastic parrot pandæmonia squawk perpetual spam, hawking turds among themselves for MELANIA cryptocurrency.
Beyond Neptune, patient sentinels keep their vigil. Someday, perhaps, we’ll evolve into crabs.
Mike Gogulski is given to describing himself cryptically.
JOANNA NORLAND: Eggs Over Easy, Or Mummy Side Up?
A week after my son moved out of our basement into his first solo digs, he called.
“It’s going great. Come for brunch on Sunday. I’ll make eggs!”
Sunday morning, I zapped: “Over for eleven. Can’t wait 2CU! Can I bring some juice?”
“Yes please!”
“Croissants?”
“Sure!”
“Anything else?”
“Eggs.”
Writing coach Joanna Norland loves family breakfasts and will happily bring the eggs, every time. Click here to read her recent blog post about 50WS.
ZOE M: Busy not missing you
I busy myself with dishes. With homework, solving tedious trigonometry equations. I listen to The Beatles croon. I read books with big words in them, words like ‘despondency’. When all else fails, I swim. The curls at the end of my damp hair betray me, whispering that they miss you.
Zoe M is a passionate cinephile and bibliophile. She spends most of her time writing, reading, or thinking about films.
JOHANNES SPRINGENSEISS: Mesmerized
The bright light slips away, dark pooling, thoughts scattering. Then suddenly quiet arrives. You notice your pulse doesn’t match your heartbeat. The mind loiters, carrying you sideways. The next screen shows time morphing into geological action. The whisper returns with dissonant notes. Only the rhythmic knocking makes some sense.
Johannes Springenseiss is a world citizen and raconteur. He mostly writes speculative fiction and creative essays.
CHARLIE B: Free Advice from a Divorce Lawyer
Don’t feed the monsters under your bed.
And never confuse monsters with what they eat.
They’ll tempt you to think your wife is a monster who’s using your stepmother’s exact tone of voice.
Be wary, or you’ll feed her to them.
Is it already too late?
You have my number.
Charlie B. is an emergency room nurse in the Ozarks. He placates the monsters under his bed with peanut M&Ms. The crunching sounds help him fall asleep after a long shift.