Thick smoke wakes me in the middle of the night, the house is on fire. I run out, wearing only my robe. It’s five degrees below zero. Twin peril.
There’s an ocean of people outside. Same reality: burning house, murderous frost.
Let’s count us, how many are we?
Eight billion.
John Szamosi is a wordsmith and peace activist who has published over three hundred short stories, satires and poems in print and online magazines.
They found a hook and line on the shore of the lake. Their daughter begged to go fishing, wading in on chunky, shaky toddler legs. They swam wide circles around her, laughing and splashing. Everyone froze when she pulled out the sunfish, shimmering in the sunlight like her golden curls.
Melanie Winklosky is a fiction writer trapped in a grant writer’s body. She lives in Swampscott, Massachusetts with her husband and dog, in what those who don’t understand call her “empty nest,” cheering on her children as they chase their dreams.
Forty plus years in our two-story house
Eighty-three years alive for me
Eighty-six for my husband
Two adult children launched
Ten grandchildren to watch grow
Two past fulfilling careers
Ten o’clock bedtimes
One car to share
Two of us needed to carry groceries home
One new year with multiplying possibilities
Miriam Stein is a social worker, advocacy consultant, and author of Make Your Voice Matter With Lawmakers: No Experience Necessary. Her writings have appeared in local and national publications, including 50wordstories.com. See more at makeyourvoicematter.com.