TRUMPET • by William Hawkins
Your lips on a ram’s horn. A new year. You explained religion as a binary, 0s and 1s. Thou shalt. Thou shalt not. At an early age, or so you told me, you decided your upbringing, centered as it was… Continue Reading
THE FAD • by James Cato
Pleased to meet you. As you know, we start the interview with some standard bureaucratic questions. Do you remember Witchcaps? Right. I remember they were initially designed for edgy supermodels, so their popularity in elementary schools came as a surprise.… Continue Reading
THE DAFT OLD BIDDY • by Lynne Lumsden Green
Angus Mackay was waiting for his mate, when an old lady dressed in ragged clothes came up to him and muttered in a heavy Scottish accent, “You poor boy. You poor, sad, boy. Beware, beware…” Her voice rose to a… Continue Reading
ON MOVING ON • by Ted Lietz
I pull dresses and pants, jackets and blouses from the closet and stuff them into plastic trash bags. Given the pandemic, I couldn’t find a charity to take Pearl’s clothes even though, for all the COVID patients she treated, she… Continue Reading
THE CHALLENGE • by David Grubb
A brunette and her twin girls did their best to ignore me after I reached the highest point in my local California state park. I stood a few feet away from them while I tried to minimize my excessive huffing… Continue Reading
ENCHANTMENTLAND • by Jay Taggart
“Wow, it really is you,” the little girl’s expression was almost comical, “you look just like you do in the movies!” Princess Nella chuckled. “Yes, fair maiden. It is I, the real Princess Nella, and I just adore your gown!”… Continue Reading
JUST A BOBBLEHEAD • by Scott S. Bateman
Bobblehead. I’m a bobblehead, he thought, and smiled at the mental picture of an Albert Einstein one that he saw online one time. It woke him up slightly, which he needed to do; falling asleep in public would be embarrassing.… Continue Reading
TUMBLING INTO OBLIVION • by Bill Wilkinson
“They look like little dolls of yarn,” Paul said. We were gathered along the length of the office windows staring down at the man we named Charlie. “The arms are up in the air, angled out like a ‘Y,’” Paul… Continue Reading
AN UNWANTED PATRIOT • by Chukwu Sunday Abel (Sunabel)
I solemnly, sincerely, and truthfully affirm and declare that I will bear true allegiance to the Federal Republic… I will use my best endeavour for the preservation of peace and apprehension of offenders against the peace. I told you that… Continue Reading
NERVOSI AUGUSTA • by Cheryl Comeau-Kirschner
It always began and ended in the same way. May heralded the end of the college semester with heartfelt goodbyes, posted grades, and celebratory cocktails. June brought slumber with no alarms, lazy snacking, and beachy reading. But July tapped at… Continue Reading