JAMES HUGH COMEY: Himself

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

“This’ll do,” Seamus said. He stabbed the box.

Ashes tumbled. Wind began to whip and spin. The ashes ignored the stone-stubbled meadow. They clutched at Seamus’s clothes, his face. He was a squall of grey.

“You starin’ at!” Seamus spat.

I could hear the Old Man laughin’. “Nothin’,” I said.

James Hugh Comey has written a mystical novella (DEATH OF THE POET KING, Branden Press), a magical realism novel (UNCOMMON GLORY), and a post-apocalyptic novel, THE WILD WORLD. He’s a co-founder and the Writer-in-Residence of Stages of Imagination, a nationally recognized, nonprofit entertainment and learning organization. His plays have been seen by over 100,000 children.

MARC SIMON: Homecoming

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

The night before I was supposed to die my brother arrived in my hospital room. I hadn’t seen him for forty years. I pushed the button on my morphine pump. We talked about riding rollercoasters as boys until I fell asleep. In the morning his hand was resting on mine.

Marc Simon’s short fiction has appeared in over 15 literary magazines. Five of his one-act plays have been winners in new works contests. His debut novel, The Leap Year Boy, was published in December 2012. His second novel, The Hanged Man, can be accessed in serial form via Kindle Vella. His newest novel, The Confession, is under contract. See more at marcsimonwriter.com.

JENNIFER L FREED: My Mother’s Gaze

Poetry, Submissions, Touching, , , , , ,

Always the sun coming out
tomorrow.
Always the better days
ahead.
So her heart keeps waiting for roses,
her hands never open the book in her lap,
her gaze leaps past
____this
________rain,
how it lifts the scent of green,
how my father leans close,
wipes droplets from her cheeks.

Jennifer L. Freed mostly writes poems. Her new book, When Light Shifts, based on the aftermath of her mother surviving a stroke, is available at Kelsay Books, Amazon, or at her website, jfreed.weebly.com, and includes some poems published at 50-Word Stories.

ALISON BERNASCONI: Blue

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

My eyes still ache. My eyes are the ocean. Pale water swirls in my irises. It’s what I miss, what I crave.

Church at 7:00 AM. Sticky petticoats, stifling dresses, sickly sweet incense.

Home for toast and tea. Then all seven in the wagon. To merge with the silken sea.

Alison Bernasconi is a full-time educator, part-time swimmer, and occasional reader.

ANUSHKA KULKARNI: Future Regrets

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

She shows off the rock to approving “oohs.” Like an excellent maid of honor, I’ve memorized its colour, cut, and carat.

“Thanks for the bachelorette!” She hugs me, making my heart flutter.

Thump Thump Thump

Her heart beats in rhythm with mine, while her ring stabs me in the back.

Anushka Kulkarni is a teenager from India studying biology. She writes flash fiction as a creative outlet.

CP SAMUELS: Dear John

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Dear John,

Please stop sending letters.

I don’t miss you, or want to talk.

Pauline

My mouse hovers over “send.”
From the other room I hear Marcus coming home. I flinch as the door slams.
I start over.

Dear John,

I miss you. Please come back.

Pauline

I hit “send.”

C. P. Samuels is an author whose name you will see again.

KEVIN BARRICK: Love in the Shadows

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Our eyes lock. Instantly memories of our inside jokes, forbidden daydreams of our future, and the lingering electricity of his fingers across my skin from days ago plague me. Our love, our unity, is a crime, where “gay” is not just a slur; it’s a prison sentence.

Our façade resumes.

Kevin Barrick has written a number of flash stories, a handful of which has been published in his anthology “Creativity Brewing.” Life has been a luscious source of inspiration, giving him the material to fill countless anthologies, but he also is working on many other longer stories which are just as satisfying and unique.

MARY CHAPMAN: An Unforgettable Date

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

She takes her time: red lipstick, pantyhose. She checks her watch a thousand times, can’t be late. Her stomach summersaults and she is glad this isn’t a dinner date – she couldn’t stomach one bite. Smiling, she places flowers gently at the foot of his gravestone. “Happy 75th anniversary, love.”

Mary Chapman wrote this story.

KATHLEEN FLANAGAN: Not Just a Lawn

Submissions, Touching, ,

Summer days passing while waiting in isolation
for the lab results.
He needed a glimpse of hope.

“Mom, I just want to go home
and lay down in the grass.”

Imagine… a lush green cushion
warmed by soft sun;
a gentle breeze…
wrapped in the comforting arms
of Mother Nature.

Kathleen Flanagan is a recently retired pediatric nursing instructor at UMASS Dartmouth College of Nursing.