What Happens In The Box, Stays In The Box
The door of the pet shop opened, and the scientist entered. Mabel shuddered. The man was a friend of the boss, but she couldn’t help wonder what happened to all the pets he bought. As he approached,...
View ArticleBOB THURBER: Impressing an Old Flame at our 25th High School reunion
She said, So what do you do? I said, I’m a pickpocket. Seriously, she said. I handed back her phone and wristwatch. That’s amazing, she said. I produced her wedding band. She studied it a moment....
View ArticleDARA NARAGHI: Agree to Disagree
With the weighty tome agape in my clutches, I strode across the antechamber, cantillating synonyms with imperturbable tenacity. “What are you doing?” she inquired quizzically. “Memorizing the thesaurus...
View ArticleJOHN H DROMEY: Gloomy Job Evaluation
“I have misgivings about our new meteorologist,” an anchorman told his station manager. “In my estimation, she’s not at all well-suited to the job.” “What’s her problem?” “She consistently disregards...
View ArticleEILEEN MARDRES: Valentine’s Day Revisited
I loved him, you know. He didn’t deserve it, but it still ripped my heart to shreds when he left me. Oh, I moved on, had a wonderful life, almost forgot, even came to understand and wish him happiness....
View ArticleBEN MIMMACK: Table For One
“Can I borrow your paper?” I looked up and knew she was the one. The universe had thrown us together. Forever. We would tell our children about this moment. “Please do.” She finished reading and left...
View ArticleDAVE ZACKER: The Haunted Surfboard
The garage-sale guy took $5 for his old, banged up surfboard. First time out, I wiped out big when two bloody skeleton hands gripped the board from the underside and flipped it, and a glowing skull...
View ArticleCHRISTOPHER VALLES: I’m-aginary Friend
My imaginary friend came back today. I hadn’t seen him in a very long time. He had grown taller and had traded his jean shorts and t-shirt for a sport jacket and a collared shirt. He screamed when I...
View ArticleEILEEN MARDRES: Close Call
Wrong place, wrong time, wrong ID, and a cop car slowly following her. Deep breath, big smile, “can I help you officer?” A bank robbery? Here? Now? Suspect resembles me? I’ll go with you. Teller...
View ArticleGENE NEWMAN: Unverbed Tale of an Unarmed Heist
My perfect unarmed robbery plan: A busy bank with everyone in masks, depositors, clerks and me. My note to a youngish teller: “Two hundred twenties in this bag please, or else.” Her nervous compliance,...
View ArticleCMF WRIGHT: Old Habits
“I feel trapped,” said the djinn to the therapist. “So I act out.” “How so?” “I turn peoples’ wishes against them. I make them die in clever ways.” “Oh dear.” “It’s habit now. I can’t stop.” “Well, I...
View ArticleJD FRAIN: Drive-Thru
Jeremy didn’t realize they’d changed menus when he ordered his usual #5. The bag sagged. The cashier handed him tongs and a chamois. As Jeremy drove off, the bag moved in the passenger seat. The...
View ArticleGLORIA GOZI: The Dreams She Has
When she’s young she dreams of gingerbread castles. Floating on a sea of candyfloss and racing down liquorice slides. Today her fantasies are no longer shaped by sugary treats. Asleep, she dreams of a...
View ArticleMARIAH FERIA: Chilled
She’d kept her books in the fridge, Risa discovered when her mother died. Where most stored milk, her mother put Woolf. She found Stein in the salad draw. Risa took them home and went one better,...
View ArticleBEN MIMMACK: Join the Army and See the World
I drop the bags on the floor thinking I’ll unpack later and slump down onto the couch. Feet up, shoes on, too tired to care. My exhausted mind starts to drift as my eyes close. Suddenly, a hand hits my...
View ArticleMICHELLE WILSON: New Friends to the Rescue
She was unraveling in the bathtub when the walls came alive. The shower handle was a silver bird grooming a faucet-shaped, one-eyed parrot. “Hello, Gorgeous,” it said. Shampoo bottles giggled; the soap...
View ArticleJOHN H DROMEY: Traced Evidence
“Henderson clearly violated his parole. GPS tracking indicated he drove to Tuscaloosa and back over the weekend. Coffee stains on his trousers contained traces of moonshine.” “Judge Foster despises...
View ArticleBOB THURBER: Leaving on a High Note
I wanted to say something noble and precise, something magnanimous and final. A parting shot bursting with clearheaded decisiveness, a line she would record in her diary on a page all its own, then...
View ArticleSUSAN GALE WICKES: Just Another Storybook Romance
The carriage crept quietly along the cobblestones. Its occupants, a handsome man and a beautiful young woman, barely spoke. Harsh words had passed between them. Silently, he wished he’d never found the...
View ArticleGENE NEWMAN: Arithme(tac)tic
People rudely ask, “How old are you?” and then look shocked when I answer, “Ninety.” “Well, God bless you,” they say. Ninety isn’t that old. Millions of turtles are older than me. My grandson yearns to...
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