The gas station attendant in nowhere, Nebraska, was majestically framed by a full-sized American flag. After niceties, he inquired about my accent.
“I’m from Jersey.”
His eyes misted, “That’s near 9-11.”
What?
“Some might forget, but not me.”
I briefly wondered if people in Poland obsess over tragedies in Spain.
J. Ian Manczur wrote this story. ALIVD MONSTRVM SIMPLICITER SVM.
After the cheesy introduction of the chefs, it was almost time to unveil the competition’s mandatory ingredient.
In their stomach-churning anxiety to start whipping up dishes, the contestants waited… Most hoped for potatoes. Or beef. Or even scallops.
The host tore off the covering:
MILK
Sour glances were all around.
Joey wasn’t interested in writing while at school but has been writing on his own in recent years, mostly to amuse himself. He has been published at The Story Shack and Needle In The Hay. He dislikes cooking game shows.
Every summer my father paints three boulders beside the road in white reflective paint to warn motorists.
The cousins from Quebec had missed the sharp turn one night to crash against the muscular oaks that flank our property.
I heard their screams through my bedroom window until the ambulance came.
Ann de Bruin is an interior designer and writer living in Los Angeles.
I made a toy once, of bone and sinew. I gave it up when I went into the Service.
I dream of my flag being sent to mom, her taking out the toy.
The drones whir above us. There’s a boy fumbling for something in the rubble, perhaps a toy.
Adam McAlpine Clark has been writing fiction and poetry for over fifteen years. Two and a half years ago he entered graduate school for law and environmental and international development policy. As a result, he began writing non-fiction articles about international environmental justice issues. He has been continuing to write fiction, albeit slowly, but his work has been heavily inflected with concerns of globalization and loss.
I haven’t cleaned (or done much of anything) since you left, and now I only have dust clouds to keep me company in my silent apartment.
I resolve to vacuum, knowing I can treat myself to a peek at your picture (which I’ll destroy, I swear!) in the storage closet.
Sheela Kamath is a copy editor based in the San Francisco Bay Area. When she’s not writing, she’s adding books — from literary fiction to sci-fi and fantasy — to her Goodreads list and playing with her dog Starbuck (named for “Battlestar Galactica,” naturally). You can follow her on Twitter @skamath3.
“I don’t love you enough.” How can enough be measured?
Five short words have changed months of planning for a shared future. We are no longer we.
But ‘I am’ succeeds ‘we are’, as determination succeeds incomprehension. My eyes are dry.
The future is all mine. He cannot change that.
A little over a year ago Debb Bouch entered a short story into a Needle in the Hay contest. Regular contests since have provided encouragement and challenge. And writing is all about challenge.
I was an amateur singer. I had composed my own song and the melody was scintillating. I hoped to become famous.
I performed with full vigour at the park, the beach, and wherever there were people.
If only the people could’ve seen a singing ghost, it would have been better!
Kavya Janani is a writer from India. She has published 4 short stories and is currently publishing her debut novel “With love, forever” as a series on WattPad.
The congregation were aghast upon learning his wife had left. Imagine! During his Christmas sermon!
She’d gotten the boys dressed and out before the alarm sounded. “Where’s Santa?” they’d asked. “Surprise!” she’d said.
She’d always imagined their escape in black and white, their taxi chased by those terrible French sirens.
Mary J. Breen lives in Peterborough, Ontario, where, among other things, she teaches memoir writing. She is a retired ESL and literacy teacher, and the author of two books about women’s health. Her fiction, articles, and memoir pieces have appeared in national newspapers, essay collections, travel magazines, health journals, and literary magazines.
It was unlike anything he had ever felt before. The warmth coursed through his body, filling his veins with fire. His vision blurred; his thoughts became clouded.
And yet, he thought, there was an unshakable feeling forming within his stomach. A feeling of doubt.
An understanding of his inevitable death.
Ryan is a student at Coventry University currently studying English and Creative Writing. His hobbies include being the greatest musician to have ever lived, winning the Nobel Prize seventeen times, and being the first man to go to Mars (without a rocket). Oh, and he’s humble, too…
Grief is a cowgirl. She is beautiful. She rides me, pulling on the bridle, telling me when to kneel and weep. Her long fingers guide tears down my cheeks.
She was here all last month; she’s with me today. I’m afraid to ask how much longer she’s going to stay.
Dan Campbell wrote this story.