They say the watchmaker on Church Street is so talented, his clockwork can slow time. Certainly, Mr Larson seems young for a shopkeeper. But he only smiles wearily when people ask him his secret. So many come and go that nobody notices he’s been working there since long before Dickens.
Dave Bradley’s words have appeared in publications such as Best Of British Science Fiction and Dorling Kindersley’s The Screen Traveller’s Guide, as well as various pop culture magazines and websites.
See that bumped up decommissioned work truck from the Murphy’s Glass fleet? The kids are driving it down to the tournament. Lifeguarding nationals, a crew of them on a double overnight. Red trunks, fresh certifications, fragile youth. Stop detecting foreshadowing! Nothing’s going wrong. Just chill till those kids get home.
Evan Harris is the author of The Quit, a satire of the self-help genre. In the past, her short fiction was published in The Iowa Review, Fence, and The Brooklyn Rail among other publications. Most currently, her flash fiction has appeared online in Bending Genres, and Fictive Dream. She writes book reviews for her home town newspaper The East Hampton Star.
It’s a sight to behold, that slick of teenagers commuting home from the beach. All salt-encrusted eyelashes and lobstery shoulders, screeching like a murder of crows.
Time travelling. My youth—I can almost reach out and touch it.
The train window reflects my denuded reality… but I’m still 1985 inside!
Gabe has been writing and editing for 30 years, from her home base in Sydney, Australia. She doesn’t plan on being replaced by AI any time soon.
I don’t remember my first steps. Home movie cameras, with their herky-jerky pictures, were rare, and seldom on hand at such moments. Instead, my earliest memories are me, running, skipping, twirling and jumping—actions that came as naturally as breathing—all gifts I thought would last forever. Silly old me.
A prolific writer, Carol Reeves is loving the fun, freedom and challenge of Flash Fiction. She frequently writes about the privilege and vicissitudes of aging. Her stories are frequently published in Flash Fiction Magazine and 50 Word Stories. Her memoir, “All the Little Miracles,” was published in 2022.
An 80 year old retired oncologist has a fall, sustaining two fractures and a brain bleed. My three year old routinely gallops across our living room and only sometimes slips, swiftly rising to smile sweetly and say “I’m fine.”
What is life, other than the distance between these two falls.
Naazia Azhar is a physician, writer and mom of four. Her work has been featured in The Intima journal and Pulse – voices from the heart of medicine.
A student said she wanted “a next egg”. Next egg. Expresso. Arlene had sacrificed oceans of cappuccinos to build her now-crushed 401(k). Now what?
“Why do we call it ‘nest egg’? What thoughts and feelings go with those words?” Arlene asked and, like Patience on a monument, waited for answers.
Miriam N. Kotzin writes fiction and poetry. She is the author of five collections of poetry, two collections of short fiction, and two novels—most recently the novel Right This Way (Spuyten Duyvil). Her 50-word stories have been published in 50-Word Stories, 50 Give or Take, and Blink Ink. She teaches literature and creative writing at Drexel University.
A flick of the wrist brings a new page, new number, possible new beginnings. Can one calendar page make me a year older? Does it matter? Admitting to the day might result in friendly celebrations or freebies from businesses trawling for customers. Others don’t need the real numbers. Do they?
Eileen comes from a family that puts great store in celebrating birthdays, even during the pandemic.
The once-nubile starlet sips her second cocktail. Stylists flit about her like a flock of sparrows around a desiccated crust of bread. As makeup artists brush hues of youth across her cheeks, lips, and lashes, they dissemble, pretending their make-up magic, lipstick-tube talismans, and mascara-wand wizardry, will turn back time.
Wendy K. Mages, a Mercy University Professor, is a Pushcart Prize nominee and an award-winning poet and author. She earned her doctorate in Human Development and Psychology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and her master’s in Theatre at Northwestern University. As a complement to her research on the effect of the arts on learning and development, she performs at storytelling events and festivals in the US and abroad. To learn more about her and her work, and to find links to her published stories and poetry, please visit her Mercy University Faculty page and her website, Wendy Mages: Storyteller.
A colourful gelato cone in hand, and I’m magically back in dolce Liguria: blazing sun, turquoise water, your damp curly hair and laughing mouth. Taking a bite, I crunch; the spell breaks. But then you crunch, and the magic returns. Your silver hair glistening, smelling, as then, of the sea.
Leonie Gregory lives in Australia. She has a passion for photography and writing about her experiences, as well as subjects she wants to explore further.
As the leaves turn on campus, the college freshmen gather at Target with the same bright eyes and school t-shirts you had fifteen years ago. They leave with gaudy pumpkin decor—no one has yet convinced them their tastes are stupid. You purchase only the necessities, longing for new beginnings.
Haley DiRenzo is a writer, poet, and practicing attorney specializing in eviction defense. She lives in Colorado with her husband and dog.