Category Archives: Top Stories

BOB THURBER: Mother’s Intuition

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , ,

I met my mother at a ritzy downtown restaurant to celebrate her divorce from my step-father. I brought a date. We had a feast.

After dinner, my mother said: “Listen. That girl.”

“Donna. Her name is Donna.”

“Not important. What’s important is you understand.”

“Understand what?”

“She’s not the one.”

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.

PAUL D’ARCY: Forwarding Address

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , ,

He changed the locks in October, the month he got married. But the landlord used the same hardware.

She figured it out in under a minute.

She doesn’t take anything. She doesn’t leave anything.

Just stands in his kitchen, flipping through the calendar on his refrigerator.

Counting backward from nine.

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

ELLEN TAYLOR: The Færie Feast

Adventure, Odd, Submissions, Top Stories, , , ,

When I was a child, I stepped into Færie. My life fit like hand-me-down clothes, so I wanted to find another.

The færies served a feast of skewered hearts. The flesh was soft; it spread warmth through my chest.

When I came home, it was all I wanted to taste.

Ellen Taylor is an academic in Nottingham, England. She writes short fiction to procrastinate from editing her novel.

ANGELA CARLTON: In Case My Mother Flies

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , , ,

My mother’s a fragile bird. The doctors say, “she has less time.”

In her bedroom, she’ll ingest water, finger-food… crumbs. And I’m in that bedroom, lingering, opening one window, so she’ll feel a nudge from the pines. I’m in that room opening all the windows in case my mother flies.

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 on Facebook.

SAANVI THAKUR: The Book that Blinked First

Adventure, Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , ,

The library breathes at dawn.
A girl opens a forbidden book; ink rearranges the future.
Footsteps chase her between shelves.
She chooses courage, not prophecy.
Outside, sunlight waits.
The book closes itself, satisfied.
Some stories escape pages.
Some choose their reader.
Today, both do.
Magic smiles, pleased with its consequences.

Saanvi Thakur is a writer who lives for quiet tension and loud emotions. She has already written two books, Whispers Between Worlds and Threads of Silence, both exploring hidden truths, fragile choices, and the power of what goes unsaid. When she isn’t writing, she’s usually lost in books, plotting new stories, or convincing herself she doesn’t need one more notebook.

LINDA KOHLER: Trapeze Artist’s Son

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , ,

At birth, he swung into the wrong crib, wrong life. Shimmering motes and sweeping flight should have awaited—a vagabond life. Instead, staid routine. Later, cleaners’ brooms. Oh, but he could see them!—those ropes between peaks of stars, begging down to him each night while he made floors sparkle.

Linda Kohler is a South Australian writer of poetry and brief prose. Her work has recently appeared in The Marrow, The Ekphrastic Review and Meniscus. She can usually be found near water or seeking new ways with cacao.

GORDON BROWN: The Big Score

Artistic, Odd, Submissions, Top Stories, , ,

I steal a lake when no one’s looking. Stuff it into my pocket and walk.

Bait shops. Docks. Reflection of the mountain on the water. I keep it in a chest under my bed, buried under my graduation robes, grandad’s smile, and my favorite dive bar.

Nobody suspects a thing.

Gordon Brown grew up in the deserts of Syria and now lives in the deserts of Nevada. Since arriving in the New World, his work has appeared in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Weird Horror Magazine, Hunger Mountain Review, and elsewhere. His horror haiku chapbook, Skin Crawls, is available from Cuttlefish Books. He spends his time writing feverishly and looking after his cats, of which he has none.

PAUL D’ARCY: The Notebook

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , , , ,

Found it under her mattress. Wasn’t looking, just changing sheets.

Pages of song lyrics. Then drawings. Then letters, written like she was already gone.

I put it back. Exactly how I found it.

At dinner, she said, “Why are you being weird?”

“Burn the plans,” I said. “Keep the songs.”

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

JIMMY MACK: The First Nip

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , , ,

There’s that distinctive sound freshly frosted fern fronds make when stepped upon. It’s different than the snap of exhausted twigs, or a bed of pine needles gathered for their winter sleep over.

It’s the sound of saltine crackers being crumbled into that first fall minestrone simmering on the wood stove.

Jimmy is a writer from Portland, Oregon. Having worked in the horticultural side of life for over 30 years, he is now working on a book about his backpacking adventures around South Asia in the early 1990’s.

STEPHANIE LYE: The Corner Seat by the Pond

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, Touching, , , , , ,

“Two coffees with real milk!” he shouts at the waiter, sliding the coins across the counter. He shuffles to the corner seat, her favourite one with the view of the pond. “Almond milk,” he scoffs, “what nonsense.” He reads the newspaper front to back. Watches the ducks. Drinks both coffees.

Stephanie is a writer from Perth, Western Australia, who likes to write about love, loss and relationships in the hopes it might help her understand them a little better.