GENE NEWMAN: Seeing Less is Believing
I always thought I was a fairly good housekeeper until cataract surgery perfected one of my imperfect eyes. I was shocked then to see clearly the dreadful condition of the house and I resolved to do...
View ArticleJIM COURTER: Clueless
“I have reason to believe my wife has a sleep disorder but is keeping it from me so I won’t worry.” “Why do you say that?” “The other day I happened to overhear her on the phone, lamenting to a friend...
View ArticleNATHAN ALLING LONG: The Homeless Man Who Broke into the Department Store
Every night he’d slept frozen stiff in cramped spaces. He just wanted to be warm. But why not try on a suit, some comfortable shoes? When he heard security coming through the aisles, he quickly struck...
View ArticleKENT OSWALD: Loser’s Lament
Few numbers short of a Lottery win Six, to be exact That deal I made with Satan? He screwed me on the pact I really thought him trustworthy His eyes, they shone like gold To be fair it might not be all...
View ArticleGENE NEWMAN: Eye Wonder
It would be wrong to group “optimists” with “opticians” and “optometrists”; and tell me, what in the world are opthalmologists? Each puzzling optical allusion is bound to cause a great deal of...
View ArticleDAVID GALLOWAY: 14B & 14C
I told her, “I’m the perfect traveler. I don’t get airsick. I pack light. I research the culture in advance. I’m not leaving you, because I always come back.” She said, “I believe you, but this is a...
View ArticleNIKOV SPRINDLOSI: Off the Wrong Lot
Go on, steal my words, but leave my zen Play with fire, trick the birds drive my car, cruise away Then, When you’re ready wrong and steady, sell my work: Change the plates, fix the dates, strip the...
View ArticleELLIE NIK: Keeping Hope Alive
We have a new routine these days: checking the mailbox when we return from daycare. It is day three and still no letters to collect. Those big brown eyes look at me in disappointment. It is day four. I...
View ArticleMICHAEL WALKER: Bad Day At Work
I go out to soak my knees in the above-ground pool. All the pool toys come to rub against me like affectionate pets. HELLO vinyl doughnut, I say. HELLO black and gray faux truck tire. HELLO burgundy...
View ArticleJOHN H DROMEY: Verbal Directions
“This concludes the press tour of the Acme manufacturing plant. Any questions you may have about our transoceanic supply chain should be directed to Lucille in shipping and receiving. She’s the one...
View ArticleJIM ANDERSON: Hooking Up before Cell Phones
On my nightly route, my headlights caught you on the expressway shoulder, waving a white flag beside a green Pinto. I stopped. Your sister was giving birth. You wanted a cop, but you got a farm boy. I...
View ArticlePAULA HENRY-DURU: Visitors Beware
Can we meet at yours instead? My table slurps the coffee rings; the coat rack shrugs off polyester; the fridge wakes at noon and is off weekends. Only yesterday I had to beg the sofa to spit out the...
View ArticleLARINA WARNOCK: Selling
She cast enchantments throughout the house: the closets to appear larger than reality, the refrigerator to always smell like a favorite food, the living room to be the perfect temperature for whoever...
View ArticleGENE NEWMAN: Our Combustible Britches
Oh to make that scary old saying right that if you lie, your trousers will ignite. But there should be exceptions for any merciful deceptions. There’d be no flaming ignitions for any charitable...
View ArticleRAN WALKER: Able to Leap Tall Insecurities in a Single Bound
She’d been able to fly for quite some time now. She no longer needed to run before take off and didn’t require props like capes either. Still, she kept this secret to herself. Her boyfriend was already...
View ArticleANNELIESE A BOYD: Fingers and Toes
Even at the age of ten, my daughter still asks me to count her fingers and toes before bed. After I count them aloud, I plant a kiss on her forehead and tell her goodnight. As she stows the shoebox...
View ArticleCAROL REEVES: Fifteen
He was gorgeous, the boy of my dreams. I obsessed over every sighting, every casual word—though seldom meant for me. And then, one day, he called. “How ’bout a movie,” he said. “Okay,” I replied. Thump...
View ArticleCHRISTOPHER GANNON: Confessions Over Pancakes
Jim pours maple syrup over pancakes before confessing to his wife he enjoys wearing leopard panties. His wife smirks as she reveals a zipper and unzips her flesh suit from head to groin, confessing she...
View ArticleCASEY LAINE: When You’re Alone
Nameless I came into the world, and nameless I remain. Language affords no more than the barest guess of what I am. The prickle on your skin when you’re alone. The whisper in your ear. The shadow cast...
View ArticlePEGGY ACOTT: Fruitcake
He loved fruitcake, and he always said that hers was never as good as his mother’s. Like with everything else. So, for one more time she set out the ingredients on the counter: flour, sugar, butter,...
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