JOEY TO: The Caretaker
People bought his flowers. Then they laid them at one of the many tombstones outside. Over the years, he noted their duration and frequency of visits. They often left quickly. And so, as soon as they...
View ArticleKENT V ANDERSON: Mutual Obsession
I hear a knock at my door. It’s my stalker, Kurt. I call out, “I’m not home.” Kurt says, “When will you be back?” I say, “Not for a week.” You might have guessed: Kurt is not too smart. After all, I...
View ArticleJAMES P SPITZNOGLE: Coldest Love
It was terminal, sure. That didn’t mean she’d give up. Even now, when visitors were few and far between, she never left his side. Devoted to a fault. She’d lost her job and apartment, but not her...
View ArticleANGELA MORRIS: Ruptured Membrane
The Facebook status read: “We have a ruptured membrane!” I panicked. The other women laughed at me. Google helped let me in on the joke. Why he couldn’t just write “Her water broke” seemed a better...
View ArticleROLLIN T GENTRY: The Exterminator and the Mad Scientist
On my first day as a pest control technician, I met Dr. Krankenblatz. He came to the door in a lab coat, brandishing a raygun-like contraption. He pointed to my sprayer. “It doesn’t detect tachyons,...
View ArticleFEE JOHNSTONE: October 31, 2096
Ingesting an alcohol pill containing enough units to ensure a buoyant mood at the party, I marvelled at my Halloween costume. Adorned with an inordinately bushy beard, thick-rimmed spectacles,...
View ArticleJOHN FOWLER: Dinner For Two
Bill and Martha: more than friends, less than lovers. Born to different parents, he was a him, and she wasn’t. For now, just dinner companions. When a hunter appeared, lost, alone, and out of...
View ArticleMARY STEER: Pillow Talk
Did we do January? Let me think… Gosh, I don’t remember. Me neither. We’d better make sure of February, yes? No. I’m too tired tonight. Always seems one of us is too tired. And February is a short...
View ArticleLIN JENKINSON: Single Socks
Driving, they came across a sock. “Weird how there’s always one sock lying on the road. Who takes one sock off?” “Probably trying to escape,” came the retort. “That’s why there’s always one missing.”...
View ArticleMARY STEER: The Cat’s Got Her Tongue
They say women use 20,000 words per day. I believe it. Since we got the kitten, my wife’s vocabulary has been reduced to “cutie pootie”, “diddy thing”, “kittiness”. Never thought I’d say this, but I...
View ArticleCAROL BROWNE: Everlasting Love
The day they met, he knew she was the one. She had such beautiful eyes. Now he would be able to gaze at their beauty every day for the rest of his life. He admired them in the pickling jar, knowing her...
View ArticleJON NIXON: Bathroom Aspirations
She wished he wouldn’t squeeze the toothpaste tube from the middle. And that he’d refrain from leaving the toilet seat upright. God, she wished he’d stop singing in the shower too. She opened the...
View ArticleGUY PRESTON: A Dinner Fit for the King
“I’m telling you,” my little brother insisted, “Elvis is alive and living here in Kalamazoo!” I sighed and finished my fries. We’d had this argument a thousand times before. I paid the bill and tipped...
View ArticleJOANNE R FRITZ: Midnight at the Urgent Care Clinic
The handsome patient grinned. “What’s wrong with me, doc?” Ignoring her aching feet—and his devastating smile—Maria checked his vitals. Normal. How odd. “Must be a virus. Rest. Drink liquids. You’ll...
View ArticleMICHAEL D HILL: The Man Who Knew His Enemies Like He Knew Himself
He joined the company as a Junior Clerk in the despatch department and through hard work and natural ability he rose to become the Chairman of the Board, but he never forgot his humble beginnings and...
View ArticleJOSEPH SIDARI: One Way to Deal with Writer’s Block
The gentleman farmer looks up from his typewriter. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Not again. He stands and walks to his gun cabinet, selecting a .22 rifle. He shoots the varmint before it...
View ArticleGORDON LYSEN: Best Laid Plans
We waited silently in the dark. I stilled myself to the mood so it wouldn’t be broken. The moment of expectation drew close, and tension hung like bar smoke. Others fidgeted, rustled, imagined. You...
View ArticleMEGAN ALEXANDER: The Peak
The rocks slip and crumble beneath my feet. A bead of sweat rolls into my eye as I balance. I use the last of my strength to pull myself up to the peak. I look around at the world stretched before me...
View ArticleCAROL AGYRIS: To the Edge
Water drives down around me making the world shake. I am buffeted from all sides. In total isolation there is no-one to hear me scream. My hands are clammy with sweat as I slip backward into an...
View ArticleLL MADRID: The Trip
In this new world, the colors carried their own sounds, the air tasted like gingersnaps, and birds tweeted the blues. A gruff gnome told Philip, “You are the chosen one.” Nancy from HR hovered above,...
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