SARAH BARBO: Done with Great Kneading

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Cutting. Rolling. Coaxing her clawed fingers, ravaged by arthritis. Once they held whisper-thin needles, stitched intricate tapestries, bathed her six children. Today, her hands can barely roll the meatballs, barely get the tray into the oven. But they will. It’s her birthday, and once again the house will be full.

Sarah Barbo isn’t sure how to write a clever, amusing bio even though she hopes she is those things sometimes. She does love to write. Find her in the Colorado mountains and at sarahbarbo.com.

JOHN HARRISON: An Orchestra of Wolves

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

I drape a blanket over my head, instantly transforming into all of the TV monsters that I love: the vengeful creatures, fathomless and mercurial. When I take the blanket away, I revert back to the monster that I have become. My parents don’t know this yet, but they will. Soon.

John Harrison studied cultural anthropology to PhD level at Oxford University. New to writing, he has had a number of poems and stories published in magazines and books, including Hollow Point Books, Anaphora, the Pennsylvania Literary Journal, Bristol Noir, Step Away, Villain Era, Beyond Words, CC&D, Half and One, Flash Phantoms and Samizdat.

JIM PARISI: Personal Effects

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Her text read, i left it out on the porch, in a silver adidas bag. No explanation. No apology for last night. No reply when I asked to meet her. Just this dead drop of our relationship. I opened it when I got home. It was some other guy’s sweatshirt.

Jim Parisi lives in Occupied Washington, D.C., with his wife, Beth, and their dog, Dolce. His writing has appeared in Hippocampus, The Good Life Review, and FlashFlood, among others.

SERGII PERSHYN: Spring Forward

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

The clock moved forward, and my Casio didn’t. I told the agent I couldn’t miss the funeral, but the next flight was tomorrow.

On the way to the coffee shop, I saw cherry trees blooming. On members’ night, I stood alone in front of the Van Gogh.

She would’ve understood.

Sergii Pershyn is a Ukrainian-American writer who transitioned to fiction after more than a decade in financial public relations. He explores reality and perception through literary fiction infused with magical realism and urban surrealism.
His debut short story collection, Silent Keys, is forthcoming from Serving House Books in November 2026. His short works have appeared in The New York Times, Oroboro, Foofaraw, and other publications. Pershyn is currently working on his debut novel. See more sergiipershyn.com.

ANGELA CARLTON: Before the Light Shifted

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Before the light shifted, mother, you played piano under the stage lights.

Before the light shifted, you faded, ghost skin, hallucinations, loud whispers in your head. Before the light shifted, we waited-waited for medications to make you whole.

We waited, for the next chapter, our new beginning to the end.

Angela Carlton’s fiction has been published in Every Writer, Everyday Fiction, 6S, 50 Word Stories, Spillwords Press, and Paragraph Planet. In 2018, her story “The Roommates,” was made into a short film. In 2023, her story “Swallowed,” was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. See more at Angela Carlton Stories & Art.

CYNTHIA CHRISMAN: Barren

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , ,

I left my apartment door ajar for her. Mom sat with her coat on, behind her newspaper, on the only piece of furniture in the barren living room. She wouldn’t look up. I stacked the last box of dishes by the exit. I hoped to bolt before Larry returned home.

Cynthia Chrisman, a semi-retired homeopath from Boston, is an emerging writer working on her first blended memoir. She is having another love affair: writing micro prose.

ASHLEY HOLLOWAY: Somebody’s Boy

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

She stood watching as the paramedics worked to revive the unconscious man. Loading him onto the gurney and into the ambulance, they took off, sirens blaring. As the crowd dissipated, she noticed discarded gloves left behind, empty of the hands that worked to save him. He was somebody’s boy. Once.

Ashley Holloway writes from her kitchen in Calgary, AB.

JEN KNOX: Fractals

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

Tell me about the faces that blur, names that disappear. Recall the half-smile of a crush with a moon-shaped scar near her temple. Childhood street names are preserved as passwords. Most memories nestle in imagined palaces, wherein the architecture always shifts. You tell me about presence and its unrelenting beauty.

Jen Knox is the author of Radicals and At Work. See more at jenknox.com.

DEBORAH TAPPER: Birthday Girl

Amusing, Odd, Submissions, , , ,

She gathers her family around her. Parents, siblings, uncles, aunts—even an old boyfriend or two. Candles extinguished, she pours sweet tea, cuts wedges of cake. Opens gifts and cards, reading every greeting aloud. Relishing their company, their considerate silence.

They always mocked her interest in taxidermy.

Nobody’s laughing now.

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