Beethoven, Loved and Lost by Madeleine Joung
It is during the second show of our town musical, waiting backstage for my solo in my red polyester dress, that I can’t ignore it anymore. It hurts, no, breaks my neck…
Goodbye to Galaxy Girl by Stephen Reynolds
My Dearest Laura, It kills me to have to write this letter, but I feel like I’m out of options. We’ve had an incredible decade together, full of laughs and love. We’ve…
Train Platform Bestiary by James Morris
There’s Sad Mister Ponytail. Hairline beating a middle-aged retreat in front, sorry graying squiggle in the back. Every day, in all weathers, he wears a leather vest and cowboy boots for the…
Illusions by Gabrielle Reid
He never faced me; it was like he was afraid of looking in to my eyes. In my office, I had a mirror along one wall, and he used to stand there,…
Leviathan by P.J. McCain
I’ve never flown before. Although I told her that I have once, when I was younger. I didn’t know what to expect outside of things I’ve seen in movies: drink carts, long-legged…
Catch Match .com by Gloria g. Murray
Maybe I should have worn the blue top instead of the black. It shows off my purple rose tattoo. Hmmm, too late now. Hope I put enough deodorant on. Oh well, the…
After Swimming Practice by Charles Haddox
Jill Morgenstern stared at the catchment pond full of dark brown runoff from the streets, a pond that the neighborhood kids called Peat’s Moss. She was observing a family of mallard ducks…
Caution Falling Mice by Steven Wiley
Richard Lyons was rich. He lived in an affluent Chicago suburb and was neighbors with other affluents who tasted craft beer on weekends. Some even brewed it. He would drink nothing but…
Yeye by Connor Bjotvedt
Mama said before she went away that all great people don’t die, they just turn into something you don’t expect. Mama went away two years ago. She was out on the street…
Personal Effects by Kendra Liedle
Sarah’s grocery cart was nearly empty-- save for a package of toilet paper, some Daisy razors and a carton of Neapolitan ice cream. She had wanted it to be a quick stop,…
Stride by Kendra Liedle
Her name was Paulette. Like Goddard, but no one knows who that is anymore. When she was young, she walked everywhere she went. She loved the feel of the breeze on her…
The Dinner Club by Caroline Misner
The Moroccan Spice House is no place to recuperate from a broken heart. And surely it is no place to fall so bones and heels in love it feels as though your…
The Grannies by Diane Gillette
The Grannies live across the street from the house Dad and I had to move into after Mama died because Dad says the insurance company isn’t going to give us any money.…
French Pastry by Carol Mann
Adam Winslow, Esquire, patted the two hundred thousand dollar check in his suit coat pocket. He chided himself just a tad for lacking humility, but he knew his largess would make possible…
Cats’ Religion by Doug Hawley
One lazy Saturday afternoon, our fat orange cat Kitzhaber climbed into my lap while I was relaxing in my Lazy Boy. The cat is named after our governor because the cat wouldn’t…
This is Bliss by Rachel Peters
I met Megan for coffee this morning. I brought her cocoa butter for her stretch marks, a gift certificate for an expensive massage, and three jars of pickles. I also bought coffee.…
They Eat Them in China by Caroline Taylor
The whole thing left a horrible taste in my mouth. For months afterwards, I seriously contemplated giving up the practice of law, anything to get away from a world I have grown…
For Fear of Heights by Madison Harrold
With my dead sister’s letter clutched in one hand, I knocked on Nate’s door with the other. For a while I just stood there, picking at the hem of my t-shirt and…
Finding My Father by Mark Tulin
My bones feel creaky and brittle; there’s a mild pain in my lower back that hurts whenever I take a deep breath. I need to get out of town, to get away…
The Last Drops of Life by C Davis Fogg
The vase is a simple one that stood on our dining room table for all of the sixty years that we had been married. It’s cylindrical, about two and a half hands…