Tag Archives: death and dying

BOB THURBER: A Haunting Story

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Sometimes, when nobody’s around, I practice being a ghost in my own home. I drift through darkened rooms, scouting for good places to suddenly appear. I map corners from which to spy, measure shadows and rehearse my creep, always on the lookout for things that eerily rattle and shockingly thump.

Bob Thurber is the author of six books. Regarded as a master of Flash and Micro Fiction, his work has appeared in Esquire and other magazines, been anthologized 60 times, received a long list of awards, and been utilized in schools and colleges throughout the world. He resides in Massachusetts. Visit his website at BobThurber.net.

KIRSTEN KELLEY: Ready

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

There I was, face to face with Death. He was polished, dressed in a suit and tie, and wearing spectacles. He didn’t look how I’d expected. He had kind eyes. “Are you ready?” he asked. I shook my head. Was anyone? He carried me away, whispering apologetically as we went.

Kirsten Kelley wrote this story.

CAROL TYMANN: After Life

Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

Mom so wanted to wear that dress to her granddaughter’s wedding. At least she’s getting to show it off to her loved ones waiting to caress her hand or whisper goodnight.

Look, she’s dreaming of dad, hoping he’ll still see his “lovely girl” when they meet soon, after years apart.

Carol Tymann is still banging computer keys searching out meaningful words, sentences, messages.

SHARON GERGER: The Cottonwood Tree

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , , ,

I left your room and wandered down the path beside the pond. I reached the tree you’d called your favourite when I’d pushed you along the path in a wheelchair borrowed from the hospice. It screamed at me on a breezeless day. I knew then you had left me behind.

Sharon Gerger is currently sitting in a hospice with her 92 year old father. She could not convince him to go for a walk with her in a borrowed wheelchair but she knows he would have loved the noisy cottonwood tree on that breezy day.

TREVOR: Hope I Don’t (a true story)

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

My youngest brother, who was there at the time, said it went like this:

On his 90th birthday, Pop said with a lilt in his voice, “Always hoped I’d make it to 90.”

[deep, throaty sigh]

[loooooong pause]

Then he very softly continued, “Hope I don’t make it to 91.”

Trevor’s fiction and non-fiction have appeared in print and digital publications since the 1970s. He’s a mononymous, multiple award-winning, full-time entertainer who likes hyphens. See more at trevorthegamesman.com.

SETH PILEVSKY: No Words Needed

Submissions, Touching, , ,

I hear the beeping of the machine, the sands of my hourglass running thin. I can’t communicate.

“Talk to him,” the nurse urges.

“Are you in pain, Grandpa?” Aaron asks, watching me gently move my hand over my chest.

No, I think, hand over my heart. I’m just loving you.

Seth Pilevsky’s work has appeared in What Doesn’t Kill You, a YA anthology published by Indomita Press, Maelstrom, The Inner Circle Writers’ Group Literary Anthology 2019, Identity Anthology by ArrowHeart Publishing, Tales of the Strange Anthology by The Writer’s Workout, Stinkwaves Magazine, Long Island Literary Journal, Literally Stories, 50-Word Stories and Memoir Magazine. Sign up for updates at his website, spilevsky.com.

CELINE GRACE: All the Time in the World

Submissions, Touching, ,

He guided her fragile, bone-thin hands to the strings. Helped her pluck a tune over the beeping monitors. Hummed her their lullaby. “You’ll have to teach me properly, love. Later.” She whispered the impossibility, leaning into him, comforting. The tune faltered, his voice broke, hands stilled. She smelled of forget-me-nots.

Celine Grace is a young writer obsessed with the mystery of ideas and is learning how to use marks on a page to tell them.

ROBIN ELLEN BROOKS: Dad

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

Tomorrow he’ll reach his eighth decade.

He plans to talk catastrophes with his party guests, how we’ll lose power, freeze, starve, run out of gasoline; how will we survive? That’s top of mind when you’re 80. How will I survive?

How will I survive the loss when eventually he doesn’t?

Robin Ellen Brooks is a Seattle-based writer who enjoys creating screenplays, drama and memoir. Follow along on her adventures by receiving her once-monthly newsletter postcards from sparkles here http://tinyurl.com/yef38n5j, and check out her website at robinellenbrooks.weebly.com.

BUD PHARO: Final Visitor

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Was it the morphine that made my mother smile for the first time in years?

“Do you see Johnny?” she asked.

“Mom, your brother died years ago.”

“But he’s here,” she said, closing her eyes forever.

“Strange, right?” I asked the nurse.

“No, someday someone will come for you, too.”

Bud is a disabled veteran who writes short stories and flash fiction.

DONALD A RANARD: At the Hospital

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

It was next to him on the nightstand, still open, the one thing he always had with him—his Swiss Army knife.

“Can you take it?” my mother said after we’d packed everything else. “I can’t.”

I stood there staring at it, unable to take it, unable to close it.

Donald A. Ranard’s writing has appeared in 50-Word Stories, 100 Word Stories, The Atlantic, Gargoyle, Litro, The Washington Post, Every Day Fiction, and many other publications. His one-act play, ELBOW. APPLE. CARPET. SADDLE. BUBBLE., was named one of three finalists in Veteran Repertory Theater’s 2021 playwriting contest. Based in Arlington, VA, he has lived in 10 countries in Asia, Europe, and Latin America.