The old man’s hand trembled, but the token landed square on the plate.
“A prize for the pretty lady!”
“And on your first try – what luck!” Her eyes crinkled.
“Lucky you said ‘yes,’ my dear.”
The couple shuffled off down the midway, arms linked. Smiling, the carny disconnected the magnet.
K. L. Mill is a voice actor, another profession that revolves around words. Most recently her work has been published by Black Hare Press, Atomic Carnival, and Crepuscular Magazine.
A rocket’s arc, straight up and burned out by 27, emulating our heroes. Fame and fortune and luxurious self-indulgence, because 40 was unimaginable. Yet the fame never came, the fortune either, 40 is gone and now we stare 70 in the mirror and wonder: where did we go wrong?
Robert Carlberg retired as soon as he was able, and now spends his time not doing everything he does not want to do.
While young, all we have is untested energy and an urge to push this big rock up the hill. When the curve begins to flatten, it rolls in unexpected ways. As the curve continues its decline, we look over our shoulder and suddenly that rock is chasing us from behind.
Stephen Tilden is retired in Brooklyn and keeping one step ahead.
I’m 63
My ukulele
Won’t play a sad song
I need a warm hand
Surprisingly
All things learned
Dissolved
My life now
Is a mystery
An open
Book
So many cancelled pages
As I reflect
A lake
Let the song birds sing
My voice
Not heard
Whispers
To be free
Patrick Yu is retired and from time to time likes to share 50 words.
You’re moving, and I will miss the laughter
your joyful children make in the early morning hours.
It won’t be the same when I sit outside
Because although the bird’s songs are beautiful, the voices
of your children laughing are grand.
Why must you take away my heart’s only medicine?
Katherine Darlington has articles in many publications including poetry anthologies, and literary journals. She also has several published novels. See more of her work at www.katherinedarlington.com.
The bow tie is new. Straw hat, too.
His face: not new. The shop where he bought it is gone, a swanky bistro there now.
He orders a salad.
Dentures bite, grind, clack; it’s not worth $24.
Eyes—original to the face—mist.
He apologizes and tips the server well.
Karen writes short in a low Canadian basement. Her work is in or forthcoming in FlashBack Fiction, Emerge Literary Journal, Reflex Fiction, Bullshit Lit, Blank Spaces, Ghost City Press, Alien Buddha Press, and others. She/her. Follow her at @MeKawalker883
At night she dances to their favorite song, imagining his fingers interlocked with hers, his arm sweeping around her waist. Her hips aren’t what they used to be and her movements are slow, but the music guides her sweetly, her memories of him filling in every space between the beats.
Ran Walker is the author of 26 books, the latest of which is Black Marker: A Novel in 100-Word Stories. He teaches creative writing at Hampton University and lives in Virginia with his wife and daughter.
“Maybe Parkinson’s,” he said flatly, taking a quick glance at his watch, then the office door, measuring the seconds left in his obligation. “…Can’t be. Twenty-nine is too young for that.”
Thirty-seven years old now, I count the ticks of a second hand on my trembling wrist, still too young.
Jay Haley is a Mississippi-born writer living near Iowa City, IA. As a Parkinson’s Disease patient, he hopes to use his writing to illuminate the issues facing the disabled in the United States and beyond.
My friend, in his early 70’s, was out and about doing errands during the most recent brutal heat wave. Dying from the heat, he stopped at Dunkin’ to get an iced tea. He said to the teenaged server, “It’s going to be 98 today.”
“Oh!” she said brightly. “Happy birthday!”
Edward Mcinnis wrote this story.
People rudely ask, “How old are you?” and then look shocked when I answer, “Ninety.”
“Well, God bless you,” they say.
Ninety isn’t that old. Millions of turtles are older than me.
My grandson yearns to be older, so he’s “six and a half.”
Therefore, I’m now 60 and a half.
Gene Newman wrote this story. See more at GeneNewmanImagineThat.com.