The colors swirled before my eyes like a cracked kaleidoscope spilling its contents into a surrealist landscape.
A part of me knew that something was terribly wrong, but that voice was drowned out by the sea of sensations washing over me. And so I just danced while the world ended.
Chris Griglack was born and raised in Massachusetts where he has lived for 24 years. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 2012 with a degree in Writing, Rhetoric, and Communications.
It has been over a year since the accident and only now have the aches and pains subsided.
The compensation paid for a new car and more. What it didn’t pay for was the yellow car seat. Sometimes I can still see her smiling when I check the rear-view mirror.
Jonathan is a Creative Writing MA graduate of Northumbria University, England. He is a fan of umbrellas, which is handy because it rains all the time.
Wedding ring for sale! Made of real silver, beautiful inside engraving. Will sell for a starting price of $250.
Hardly worth that, the customers had said all day with a small, disapproving smile. It’s already been used.
What was I to do? He told me to get rid of it.
Anna is a high school student in Louisiana who enjoys dance, acting, and spending time with friends.
The weight of the Winchester lifted, pain like none he had known following in its stead.
It wasn’t his entire life but just a single childhood memory that played him out: sitting on the bench, the nurse disinfecting the needle, saying, “It hurts for just a second.”
A cold comfort.
Dylan S. Gonzalez lives in Toronto. He likes writing.
Under a sliver of moon, three sailors stand watch. The helmsman, the lookout, the conning officer—none of them say a word. Charged with a sacred duty, their eyes scan the horizon. They look for hazards hidden in the night. Belowdecks, the crew sleeps. Even the captain dreams of home.
Gabriel studies English at The Ohio State University.
Blade angled, swift, slid through layered membrane like into soft butter.
Awakening life fluid. Forcing it to rupture rivulets, flow blood red on surface skin.
I could have screamed, demanded him to stop, but he had power over me.
“Operation successful,” the doctor said.
I looked down. Foot still there.
Krystyna is a former librarian. She’s now writing and publishing poetry, flash fiction, and short stories. She lives in Edmonton, Canada, and loves to travel the world and share her experiences through writing.
After receiving the phone call, I made sure the front door and ground floor windows were locked. The garage was shut and the cat flap too small. Lastly, I blocked the back door as the wood was thinner.
Satisfied there was no way out, I started to climb the drainpipe.
Jonathan is a Creative Writing MA graduate of Northumbria University, England. He is a fan of umbrellas, which is handy because it rains all the time.
They study each body carefully. Everyone’s pain is unique. No MRIs or x-rays, either. Their methods are ancient. Hell’s masseuse runs his hands over every inch of your body asking, “Does this hurt? Is this too much pressure? What about here? Is this tender?”
If you are smart, you lie.
Robyn Ryle started life in one small town and ended up in another just down the river. She teaches sociology to college students when she’s not writing and has stories in Bartleby Snopes, WhiskeyPaper, and Cease, Cows, among others. You can find her on Twitter: @RobynRyle.
Falling.
Richard would have sworn if the rush of the wind wasn’t suffocating him.
Taking that loan was a bad idea, being late on it even worse, and nothing topped getting on their private jet.
He brought his palms together and prayed that he landed on one of their houses.
Dylan S Gonzalez lives in Toronto. He likes writing.
She wasted her life watching her figure. Slimming down and staying fit were her full time jobs, consuming her because she consumed nothing else. Nothing but beautiful, empty as the calories she avoided. A double zero personality in a double zero casket. Smiling, for in death she only gets thinner.
Chris Griglack was born and raised in Massachusetts where he has lived for 24 years. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 2012 with a degree in Writing, Rhetoric, and Communications.