GORDON LYSEN: Happy New Year Grumps
It was his birthday. Born seventy years ago on the last day of December. So this is how his year was to end, wracked in pain, body contorted. He always thought he would enjoy retirement, old age, dying...
View ArticleJON NIXON: No Longer a Pardner
“We’ve had enough of your cowboy attitude in the workplace,” the boss said. “You’re fired.” I glanced at the clock. High noon. “That’s mighty fine,” I drawled, spitting my tobacco onto the floor....
View ArticleGUY PRESTON: You’re barred!
Three men walk into a bar. “Ow!” cries the first man. He clutches his head and falls to the floor. “Ugh!” cries the second man, slumping lifelessly to the ground. “It is done,” says the third man. He...
View ArticleJ BRADLEY: Home Improvement
I stop when I see the three previous exterminators decaying on the front lawn, their faces swollen. The previous owners stopped paying their mortgage and turned the space between their walls into an...
View ArticleMARK FARLEY: First, catch your vampire
Hunt them in dark castles or the bedrooms of virgins. Dispatch with a blunt instrument. Avoid the heart. Hang the meat high. Allow to drain for three days. Do not let it near sunlight. Salt well. Slice...
View ArticleJENORA VASWANI: Robot Hugs
Cuddles. An order. Cuddles? The robot paused, processing. Error 404. A brief demonstration. A jerky imitation. Processing again. I do not understand. You want to remain in contact with my exterior...
View ArticleMELISSA FU: Ambush
The lettuce is leggy and the bokchoi has bolted. While I’m scrambling after runaway cabbages, the slugs launch their offensive. Calling them swift may be overstatement, yet under the cover of a single...
View ArticleALEXANDRA KEISTER: Probability and Statistics 101
Pinched between sweaty fingers, the love note—a carefully crafted purple-inked questionnaire that would potentially determine the rest of their lives—was passed to the blonde in front of him. She...
View ArticleBOB THURBER: Home Movies
The morphine soothes. Death is fairly quick, ultimately painless. Your spirit ascends like an explosion playing out. Turns out that there is a God, and She’s pissed. A projector clacks, images flutter....
View ArticleJOHN H. DROMEY: Zombies Don’t Bleed
The chief of detectives saw one of his precinct’s best undercover cops with the lower part of his face nearly covered with blood. “What happened to you, Morrissey?” “I was playing dead for a sting...
View ArticlePREETI SINGH: A story
A proper story requires three main components: Beginning Middle End All important to form a complete story, no matter the size. If any of it is missing, it is called an unsettled plot. I want to share...
View ArticleBERTA TORRAS FEBRER and GÉNESIS CHAMAIDAN PANCHANA: Love of my Life
It’s Friday. I’m meeting the love of my life, the one and only. It’s 9:50 PM, almost 10. All is prepared. I’ve waited for so long. Suddenly the bell rings. I’m nervous but I open the door. “So...
View ArticleJOHN ROSSER: Bear Necessity
From the very start the bear’s life had been miserable and brutal. Locked away in the dark for weeks without food and water. Brought out in public only to be beaten. But now his torment was at an end....
View ArticleBEN REYNOLDS: The Messenger
The Royal Ballroom was not accustomed to motorbikes careening through its windows, but the helmeted man had a message. A red triangle on the seal told the King all he needed. “A storm nears,” he said....
View ArticlePAULA RODRIGUEZ: The Lie
Lovely sweetheart, I don’t know why, I don’t know when, I just know that today I wanna live again. Lovely sweetheart, you are the one that makes me write what my heart felt when we began. You wanna...
View ArticleNINA SUDHAKAR: Much Ado About Flowers
Red roses are cliché. Carnations: pedestrian. Daisies’ friendly faces look pitifully eager. Orchids make you work too much for their beauty. Lilies’ quiet elegance masks a faint bridal whiff. Tulips:...
View ArticleGUY PRESTON: The Tree Fella I Fell In Love With
I’m always skeptical when my boyfriend says he’s a lumberjack. There’s something about the way he cuts his hair every winter, how his checked flannel shirt hangs loose around his trunk and his thorny...
View ArticleNORMAN GIN: That Look
It was one of our last meals together. She’d fixed pork chops the way I liked: plain, fried, with onions, in an old iron skillet. How could I tell her I’d miss her? “Whenever I see a pork chop, I’ll...
View ArticleFEE JOHNSTONE: The Melody of Monotony
Crosswords, cappuccinos, and Classic FM: I basked in the gentle cadence of Sundays until I was caught depositing company profits into my account. Now, Sundays are indistinguishable from every other...
View ArticleCANDACE KUBINEC: The Health Benefits of Tea
Evelyn True was pronounced dead. Her doctor had checked: no pulse, no heartbeat, no breath. The herbal tea she swore by for ninety years couldn’t help her any longer. When the undertaker noticed the...
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