RYAN KHATKAR: Insignificant Thoughts

Amusing, Submissions, , ,

The silence was deafening. The icy water made his lungs burn and the pressure became unbearable. He knew he was dying. He would soon be dead.

“Strange,” he thought as the world slowly turned black. “I’m almost dead and the fact that I left the oven on still bothers me.”

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…

PATTI MCDERMOTT: Alice

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , ,

One car after another. Her ponytail bobs up and down.

They call her Isabelle. Cindy. Maryanne. They say you like it. They say I’m sorry. They say don’t tell.

The man she calls Daddy takes her home, counts up the money, and gives her a McChicken. He calls her Alice.

Patti McDermott is a marriage and family therapist in Los Angeles California and live in Topanga, California. I wrote two self-help books back in the 90’s that were published and am currently working on a novel (much harder, but way more interesting!).

MICHAEL COOLEN: New Number 1

Adventure, Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

Martin Bledsoe was a short, plump, bald, harmless-looking man in his mid-50s. Nobody suspected he was also the best assassin in the world.

Bang!

Well, nobody except Emma Kronstad, a short, plump, grandma-looking woman in her early sixties who strolled away from his dead body whispering, “Now I’m No. 1!”

Michael Coolen is a pianist, composer, actor, performance artist, and writer who lives in Corvallis with his wife, two boys, and two cats to which he is terribly allergic.

PATRICK YU: Hidden

Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

Those thoughts again
Yes, those kind
Yes, you’ve had them, too
The ones locked in a box
I try to hide them
How would I look
If I was exposed?
Do you question me?
Are you so perfect?
What’s in your closet?
Yes I’m a vegan
And I crave bacon

Patrick is about to retire, a favourite person in his life introduced him to this site.

STEVEN ORMOSI: A New Life

Amusing, Odd, Submissions, ,

I left town and drove straight at the rising sun. No one would miss me. My radio screamed and I forced myself not to look back. A new life swelled over the horizon, while the old one turned to ash in my wake. Lesson learned: nobody loves a rodeo clown.

Steven is a writer of fiction and Facebook updates. He is proud of one of these and hides another. Alternatingly. Depending on his Facebook posts that day. Check out his blog.

MARIAN BROOKS: Soul Searching

Artistic, Submissions, ,

The beaches of Cancun and the Mayan Riviera are unusual destinations for soul searching. Yet that’s the tale Allison told her husband before she took off.

No one knew how long she searched, or how hard, but she found it floating at the bottom of a bottle of premium tequila.

Recently retired, Marian Brooks has begun to write some short fiction. Her work has appeared in The Story Shack, Word Riot, Zest Magazine, The Linnet’s Wings and others.

STEVEN LEE: Time Machine

Adventure, Submissions, , , ,

The time machine shimmered and was gone. She looked at the space it left and thought of the man she had just spoken to, gone to his fate in a destroyed world.

As he now kicked inside her she knew what might become of him.

She had better get started.

Steven Lee wrote this story.

JEWEL GRAY: July 18, 1987

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

Memories arise as she gradually awakens from her medical stupor. Behind her closed eyelids, she remembers the ambulance, doctors, and then the rush into C-section surgery.

Did her sweet baby–no wait, babies–make it?

She peeks open her hazel eyes to find two congratulatory balloons. One pink. One blue.

Jewel is a stay at home mother who spends her days chasing after her spunky two year old, and her free time writing and entering contests on sites such as Needle in the Hay.

REGINA SOLOMOND: Burning Ants

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

That summer smelled like burning ants.

“C’mon, give your old man a hug,” he said, struggling to sit up straight amongst white sheets. I could feel his bones when I wrapped my arms around his tired body.

The ants squirmed under my magnifying class, but I was a merciless god.

Regina Solomond is a writer from Wexford, Pennsylvania. She is inspired by the oddities of the world and the strange people living in it.

KENNETH DREXLER: The Thief

Amusing, Submissions, , , , ,

I am a thief and a liar.

Forty years ago, when I was eight, I stole my cousin’s glow-in-the-dark super ball from his house on Thanksgiving morning. I told mom I found it in the park.

The ball was lost soon after, but not the shame. That I still have.

Kenneth Drexler is a short story writer located in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. His most recent story will appear in the July/August issue of Bethesda Magazine.