Tag Archives: keeping up with the Joneses

KARALYN WAYNE: Elena

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

City council on Tuesdays, marathon practice on Wednesdays, volunteering on Thursdays, and late shift on Fridays. No friends; doesn’t have the time. Energy drinks fill her bag, and concealer to disguise tired eyes.

A bright smile hides the fact that she doubts she’ll ever live up to the world’s expectations.

Karalyn Wayne enjoys reading poetry in her armchair with a warm drink close by. She takes inspiration from long walks with her dog and the conversations of noisy neighbors. When she isn’t procrastinating, she writes. This is her second published story.

ROBB LANUM: Cheated

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, ,

Paul was enraged. He’d done everything right.

He’d aced the CPA exam at 22, slaved to buy the house with the backyard, skipped family vacations when busy season hit, put the twins through college. He’d held up his end of the bargain.

But his wife got old and died anyway.

Robb Lanum is a failed screenwriter in Los Angeles. His longer, epic works have appeared on 101words.org [link: 101words.org], and he was a winner of the Summer 2020 Los Angeles Public Library Short Story Contest.

MICHELLE WILSON: Pills

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Coffee to wake up. A pill to focus. More pills to slim down, be happy, relax, fall asleep. Botox for lips, implants for curves, chemical peels for skin, filters for photos. Joy highlighted, gratitude expressed, sadness made palatable (never a dull moment).

Post, tag, comment—repeat.

Still not good enough.

Michelle Wilson’s words have appeared or are forthcoming in Potato Soup Journal, Litro Magazine, The Drabble, Entropy Squared, 50-Word Stories, 101 Words, Literally Stories, Flash Fiction Magazine, and Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood, among others. She lives in Miami Beach, Florida. Sometimes she can be found at https://medium.com/@wilsmk.

HOLLY JEFFRIES: Decking the Halls

Amusing, Submissions, , , , ,

Ratta tap tap tap. Ratta tap tap tap.

“John, that’s not centered.”

Ratta tap tap. Ratta tap tap.

“The tree needs to be perfectly in the center of the window. Planked by the lights and frosted glass.”

Ratta tap. Ratta tap.

“That’s still not centered… What will the neighbors think?”

Holly Jeffries is a southern city girl who spends the bulk of her time crunching some numbers. When she’s not working with an excel spreadsheet, she’s usually thinking up her next short story.