Tag Archives: love

TILIA KLEBENOV JACOBS: If

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

If he hadn’t hit the ball.

If she hadn’t caught it and tossed back the most luminous smile in the annals of baseball.

If he hadn’t scribbled his number on it.

If she hadn’t called, laughing and calling him “ballsy.”

But he had and she had. Together for eternal If.

Tilia Klebenov Jacobs is the author of Wrong Place, Wrong Time and Second Helpings at the Serve You Right Café as well as numerous short stories. She is a reviewer for IndieReader.com, a judge in San Francisco’s Soul-Making Keats Literary Competition, and a board member of Mystery Writers of America. Additionally, Tilia teaches writing classes for prison inmates. See more at tiliaklebenovjacobs.com.

BOB THURBER: Everything you need to know about my wife’s Gaelic-Green/Irish-blue eyes.

Submissions, Top Stories, Touching, , ,

We were stoned. Bowie was singing about Major Tom.

It wasn’t our first kiss, but it was our first nose-to-nose lingering stare.

Up close her eyes looked like something you might see through a telescope.

At the center, a sapphire sun floated in the diffused light of undeniable, lasting warmth.

Author’s Note: For C, of course.

Bob Thurber is the author of “Paperboy: A Dysfunctional Novel” and two collections of stories. A celebrated master of Flash and Micro Fiction, his work has appeared in 60 anthologies, received dozens of awards, and been used in schools and colleges throughout the world. He resides in Massachusetts where, despite severe vision loss, he continues to write every day. Visit his website at BobThurber.net.

TAMSIN SEYMOUR: Still Knitting

Submissions, Touching, , ,

The left arm was too long. Distracted, she’d miscounted the rows above the cuff.

He’d just grin and blame his shoulder. That permanent, lopsided shrug that gave his silhouette such beautiful asymmetry.

As she laid the neatly folded pullover on the grass, she noticed his headstone leaned the same way.

Tamsin is disappointed that she has never mastered knitting.

FRANCA BASTA: For You

Submissions, Touching, , ,

I’m not very good with words. Never have been.

So I’m writing this to let you know how much you’ve changed my life. How my every waking moment is filled with thoughts of you.

I hope one day you’ll read this.

When you grow up and learn how, of course.

Franca is a bilingual English language teacher and proud grandmother. She belongs to an international creative writing group and now lives in Italy with her husband of 40 years.

ERIN GILMORE: Recollection and Reflection

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , , ,

I didn’t go to his first wedding—the one that was supposed to be mine, too—but I went to all the ones after that.

The last one was different… bittersweet. It felt like a goodbye as much as a beginning, but in some ways, aren’t all weddings like that?

Erin is an artist and editor living in Los Angeles.

JAMIE BRIAN: Lovers in October

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

They’re walking hand in hand like always, blushing as red as the leaves they kick up while they walk.

He can almost remember the smell of her perfume.

“Come away from the window, now,” the nurse says, toting his oxygen tank. “You shouldn’t stare like that. What’s there to see?”

Jamie Brian is a pilot and flight instructor from Pennsylvania. She makes sense of the world through poetry. Her office may be in the clouds, but she feels firmly rooted with a pen in her hand.

PENNY JO McALLISTER: Happiness

Adventure, Submissions, Touching, , , ,

“Happiness is seeing Mars in your rear-view mirror…” sang Lorg as the planet disappeared from view. “Good luck colonizing that mudball!”

He turned on the vessel’s kitchen feature. Reaching for the hyperspace button, he hesitated and turned around instead. “I’d colonize an asteroid with Liya if she wanted.”

He sighed.

Penny Jo McAllister writes fantasy and has never left Earth.

HENRY BLADON: The Loving Tree

Submissions, Touching, ,

“Let’s walk to our tree,” she’d say. Our special place.

Through the wood, twigs snap underfoot. The brook flows by, reflecting dazzling summer sun. At the tree, a blackbird sings. I run my fingers over her initials, still carved into the trunk.

She’s gone. Her name forever in my heart.

Henry writes micro, flash and full fiction. He lives in Somerset, UK and he likes trees.

ZURINA SABAN: Promises

Submissions, Top Stories, Touching, , , ,

“You have me,” he said, the promise reflected in his eyes. She believed him.

That was a year ago. He’d lied.

Now she held her screaming newborn in her arms, breasts raw from another failed feeding. “Shhh,” she whispered near his little ear. “I’m here. I will always be here.”

Zurina Saban is a poet and author based in Johannesburg.

VICTORIA DAVIES: The Sleep Thief

Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

I remember what it was like to go to sleep and just luxuriate in it, swimming in the darkness of hours and hours.

Now you’re here, with your whimpers in the night and your chubby hands clutching me as you feed. You smell like warmth, and love has replaced sleep.

Victoria Davies is a freelance music teacher and writer from London, UK. She loves writing her thoughts and feelings about motherhood after the birth of her son in November 2016, an event more life-changing than she ever expected. You can read her blog at muminmakeup.wordpress.com.