THE PAINTINGS OF SIZWE • by Liz Tsikkos
[story text removed at the author’s request] Rate this story: average 3 stars • 27 reader(s) rated this
hospitals
DANCING IN THE VOID • by Kip Hanson
Three days before Christmas, Mary slipped in the shower and cracked her head on the soap dish. I found her half an hour later. The water was long cold and her skin had turned purplish, like an overripe plum. Her… Continue Reading
SLEEPING BEAUTY • by Linda M. Scott
When will Mrs. Stuart wake up? I’m not certain; the doctor said she’s in a deep sleep and when ready, will wake, when the time is right. She looks so peaceful, even with that machine and everything. Yes. I wonder… Continue Reading
HIGHWAY • by J.F. Connolly
Bob woke up early. In the shower, he rehearsed his ten o’clock presentation, a one-page map in his mind, a landscape he would negotiate for an hour and a half — Haines’ Iceberg Theory, the way he had been planning… Continue Reading
IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH • by Gustavo Bondoni
“Our health plan doesn’t cover this.” “I know, but it’s the only hope you’ve got. The doctors are saying that it’s a serious case, that your liver will fail within weeks and that you’ll lose brain function with it. It’s… Continue Reading
A GATHERING OF ASHES • by Gustavo Bondoni
A lone firefighter walked through the deserted street. He saw the playground where he’d run as a boy, and watched for a moment as the swings, faded but intact, swayed in the autumn wind. A yellowed piece of paper blew… Continue Reading
AL ÁNDALUS • by Sarah Crysl Akhtar
Feed me the sun, said Grandma, so I can get warm again. I woke up crying, my hands still curved from pressing Grandma’s cold, soft, swollen feet in my dream. Outside it was gray and damp but without the relief… Continue Reading
4:19 • by Kathleen Rose
It’s been four hours and nineteen minutes since I plugged my alarm clock back in. I had already been running late and the cable man had been early for once and since life isn’t porn, I couldn’t just strip —… Continue Reading
FAIR • by Chad Greene
Solemnly, the seven little lawyers looked down at her. Even comatose in her hospital bed, she was so beautiful — her skin, white as snow; her lips, red as blood; her hair, black as ebony. “Who are we meeting with,”… Continue Reading
THE GENIE’S ANODYNE • by Don Raymond
Hi. If it doesn’t seem too forward, could I buy you a drink? The champagne, perhaps… something golden, to match your hair. Oh, of course — the whole bottle. The sky’s the limit, tonight. I can’t give you the stars,… Continue Reading