ELEANOR BUFFAM: Urban Fox

Adventure, Submissions, , , , ,

Fleet are his feet as he flies down the street, fleeing the shouts, fur a blur of red. She awaits him with their three tiny balls of fluff, eyes closed and sleepy. Shaking dew from his whiskers he greets her with a mouth full of chicken stolen for his family.

Eleanor Buffam is an interdisciplinary visual artist, writer, and musician based in Edinburgh, Scotland. She has published short fiction in Fifty Word Stories, Inlandia Journal, Moonpark Review, and the speculative anthology Constellations of Being, and has recently been longlisted for the Oxford Flash Fiction prize.

JOANNA NORLAND: As I Slumber, My Inner Drives Vie for My Dreams

Amusing, Submissions, ,

Ambition: Let’s play Jo Brokers World Peace Over Lunch.
Nurture: What about Billy Learns to Pedal?
Eros: Too tame. Hotel Tahiti, uncut.
Gluttony: Hot-t-t Fudge: A Sundae Bar Saga.
Anxiety: Sorry, gang. I’ve already loaded the projector. Exam Disasters, Season Twenty-Five.
Others: Not again!
Anxiety: Episode Eighty-Nine: The Leaky Pen.

Twenty-five years after graduating from law school, Joanna Norland still had recurring exam nightmares. She exorcised them by writing this story.

STORY OF THE MONTH: October 2026

News

The Story of the Month is chosen from the Story of the Week winners announced from the past month.

The finalists for October were:

Personal Effects by Jim Parisi
Pizza Fog in an F-150 by Robert Allen
Evacuation by Meg Pokrass
Taking Flight by Stephanie Lye
Sunrise by Melanie Winklosky
Good Will Books by M. Elaine Wilkins

The winner of the October 2026 Story of the Month is…

Taking Flight

DON NIGRONI: Not a Ghost of a Chance

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

Can’t tell how many times a girlfriend dumped me. Always taken completely unawares. Years ago, I decided to turn the tables. I had no reason whatsoever to dump Jenny but I called her just to make a breakup date. Still waiting for her return call. Still wonder if she knew.

Don Nigroni is a retired labor economist. His flash fiction has appeared in Ambit, Asymmetry Fiction, Mystery Tribune, Theme of Absence, Free Flash Fiction and 365 tomorrows.

TIM BOITEAU: EVA

Adventure, Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

Open your eyes and the universe wheels.

Close them. It’s still as a winter’s night, peaceful but for the pounding of your heart.

Open them—spinning stars, the Earth a sapphire streak, the moon a silver comet, the darkness as crystalline as the meteor that severed your umbilical cord.

Close them—pray.

Tim Boiteau is a Writers of the Future winner and author of the novel The Nilwere.

LYNN MESSING: Said by Deciduous Leaves to Their Tree in Autumn

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

We gave you the best months of our lives. We energized you. We put on a colorful front but frankly, we’re drained; our chlorophyll is no longer filling us. And how are you repaying us for our goodness to you? By cutting us off. Well, we’ve had enough. We’re leaving.

Lynn Messing loves the autumn colors but is saddened by the falling leaves.

BENJAMIN ROWLEY: Friction

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

When I was twenty-nine I went through a phase of simplifying my life. I bought a robot vacuum, prepped meals in advance, and began cycling to work to save time at the gym. All friction had to go.

Eventually, so did Addie. But that’s okay. She was slowing me down.

Benjamin Rowley is an architect and writer currently based in Germany. This is his first published story, but you can find more at rowleysmiscellany.com.

DM BARLOW: A brief embrace is permitted at the beginning and end of the visit

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

“Don’t believe what you read and see on social media, son. When trust is broken, it’s broken forever. That’s not a rule — it’s a fact. And no matter how hard you try to convince yourself otherwise, the trust you once had in another human being will never be absolute again.”

D.M. Barlow is a writer, currently based in China. When not at his desk, he finds, fixes and uses old typewriters.

FATEMAH ZAMINPAIMA: How Long Does it Take to Forget Someone?

Adventure, Submissions, , , ,

Eight years. That’s how long my brother has been missing. Mom still sets his plate every night. Dad stopped correcting her years ago.

Tonight, she smiles at his empty chair. “You’re late.”

Dad goes pale.

A fork moves. Just slightly.

Mom smiles wider. “Eight years, and you still don’t knock.”

Fatemah Zaminpaima is a third-year student majoring in Information Systems and Business Analytics at the American University of Sharjah. She is currently enrolled into a creative writing course which reminded her of the passion she had for writing. Amongst all the chaos of business studies, this course is a breath of fresh air resulting in her to write stories again and work her mind for stories in a way she has not since 10th grade.