RICHARD PANNBACKER: Dogs

Artistic, Submissions, , , , , , ,

A man sits in an overstuffed chair in the middle of a room. There is nothing else in the room except for about twenty dogs, most of them barking. There is a loaded revolver beside the chair.

Once a day the man gets up and shoots one of the dogs.

Richard Pannbacker is a retired biochemist/teacher/sheepfarmer living in Manhattan, Kansas. He writes short stories, short short stories and still shorter seven-line flash fiction. He is the winner of the 22nd Annual “Kansas Voices” short story contest and has had short stories accepted by Pill Hill Press and The Right-Eyed Deer.

Causing a Reaction

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There was a complete stranger in the house, and no one else seemed to care. Jill and Bobby even seemed to like the trespassing feline.

So Mitsy began sneezing and sniffling and mewling.

She knew how things worked: they’d never keep the new cat if it was creating allergy problems.

JANET YUNG: Last Chance

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At the End of the Road Thrift Store, bins held discarded items without much hope of being rescued, almost everything destined for the trash; used up; original value greatly diminished.

Still, treasure seekers in varying stages of salvation rummaged desperately, as eager as the objects were for one last chance.

Janet Yung lives and writes in St. Louis. Her short fiction has appeared in several online journals, including “Ineffective Ink,” “Write From Wrong Lit,” and “Flash Party.”

I Learned Everything That Mattered Outside the Classroom

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I learned a lot during my time at university. Like how to tie a perfect blindfold knot, how to throw a knife accurately, how to keep my bearings when I’m dizzy…

It was an eclectic skillset, and certainly not employable, but I won my wife’s heart at the county fair.

TOM MCDADE: Leaving Manpower With Bigmouth

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His flapping jaws still locked in high gear, frowning men yearned for sonic blasts from a jet squadron to maybe momentarily mute him. They wondered loud, clear, and audibly if even a city nicknamed “The Big Decibel” for its constant and deafening clamor could outdo that son of an amplifier.

Tom McDade lives in Monroe, CT, with his wife, no kids, no pets. He works as a computer programmer in the home plumbing supplies industry.

Gus the Goofy Gopher

Amusing, Odd, , , , ,

Like many other runty rodents, Gus had an entirely undeserved nickname.

“Goofy Gopher,” his mom had affectionately called him. But the weasels found out.

Gus’s father said, “Reappropriate it. Go into stand-up. Make a name for yourself. Show them up.”

But it turned out Gus’s jokes just weren’t very funny.

BRITTANY MICHELSON: After-Work Program

Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

When he pulls into the garage, he sees the bucket and sand toys on the backseat. He hides them in the trunk, next to the spare tire.

Then he runs his hands over his suit to remove any final grains of sand. He wouldn’t want the kids to be jealous.

Brittany Michelson loves traveling, hiking new mountains, playing with words, snowboarding, and daydreaming.

NEWS: Win a Print Copy of Fifty-Word Stories: Volume One

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If you don’t yet have a copy of Fifty-Word Stories: Volume One in print, how would you like a chance to win one?

On Monday, June 13, I will draw one name from a hat to win a print copy of Volume One.

How do you get your name in the hat? There are three “fronts” to the contest, and each can get you one entry. (That’s a maximum of three entries per person, for all you Math majors.)

First, you can share a link to FiftyWordStories.com on Twitter, making sure to include the hashtag #50wordstories.

Second, you can Like my new Page on Facebook.

Third, you can join in the discussion about the short story Saucer from my recent short fiction collection, Living and Dying. Everyone who comments on this blog post will receive an entry. If you haven’t read Saucer yet, get the collection here!

Good luck, everyone!

Note: If the winner lives outside of North America, they’ll have to cover the difference between the North American and outside-of-North-America shipping.

Motivation

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She literally stood on her head trying to impress Dad enough for one sincere compliment.

But he just smiled and said she was “gym-nasty,” so she jumped off the balance beam and tackled him and they both laughed, and he still didn’t seem to understand why she practiced so hard.

MEG TUITE: Nepotic Heist

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , , , , , , ,

My brother called me a prison probability. I told the pansy, “Shut up,” shoved four candy bars down his pants.

The fat lady lurched from behind the counter, grabbed his collar, half the stash, shrieking, “Snot-nosed delinquent!”

After mom whooped him, I snuck into his room: “Hand them over, punk!”

Meg Tuite’s writing has appeared in numerous journals. She is the fiction editor of The Santa Fe Literary Review and Connotation Press. Her novel “Domestic Apparition” (2011) is available through San Francisco Bay Press. She has a monthly column “Exquisite Quartet” for Used Furniture Review. You can read her blog at http://megtuite.wordpress.com.