BIKES • by Bob Shepherd
When I reached my fifth birthday, my mum and dad took me into the front room. They had prepared a surprise. I tried to tug at the old grey blanket they had draped over my present and it crashed to… Continue Reading
Stories
BLOCKBUSTER • by Tom Meek
They were on their way to buy wine and cheese and pick out a movie at the video store. It was his first time meeting her parents and he wanted to impress them even though she had said they were… Continue Reading
TWO WALKS • by Todd Morgan
After 30 years, one of the first things you mention between bites of a California frittata is that spring evening. I remember too. Both of us had been alone in Manhattan. We met up and saw Anthony Hopkins in Equus… Continue Reading
THAT MAN • by Richard Sensenbrenner
He wore an expensive suit and expensive-smelling cologne. Black or dark brown eyes took her in, took in her shopping cart. He didn’t have a cart. A bouquet of white daisies was cradled in his left arm near a handful… Continue Reading
HAZY THROUGH THE MIZZLE • by Tricia Lowther
“See you on Friday at The Jac!” Nancy yells from the back of the black cab before it rattles away down Old Dale Street, rear lights hazy through the mizzle. My raised hand falters mid-air as I take in what… Continue Reading
THE KNOWING SKY • by Tim Boiteau
The cotton absorbs the tea’s bitterness, the paroxysmal pain. It engulfs him, fills him. The last time Wind had known such pleasure, there’d been a needle hanging out of his seeping, abscessed arm. Then he’d received the Knowing Sky’s cryptic… Continue Reading
REFLECTIONS AT AUCKLAND AIRPORT • by Michael Bloor
We met at art college. Dorothy was the one with talent, everyone saw that. And, I imagine, no-one could see what she saw in me. I got thrown off the course at the end of the second year, but we… Continue Reading
THE AGE OF VICTORIA • by Peter Wood
Councilor Greg Hughes loved the Victoria Day parade in Eganville, Ontario until he had to run the damned thing by himself. No town councilor ever wanted to organize the annual event — especially in an election year. Voters could lash… Continue Reading
MOVING ON • by Meryl Schwartz Baer
My paddle glides through tranquil waters, reflecting my image but obscuring what lies beneath. A fish jumps skyward then plunges into the swampy depths, startling me out of my trance. I look around. Everyone is still here, slinking through the… Continue Reading
LAST WORDS • by Richard Cripps
The five climbed the gantry in silence to view their work completed. As they walked out in front of the great viewport and were bathed in the light of the universe, their leader, Esil, wiped a tear from the corner… Continue Reading