In The Trees/Fiction
Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash *** In the Trees by Britnee Meiser Contributor t was the summer of the cicadas. Usually I liked to walk around barefoot, to lie in the grass beneath the great oaks...
That Girl/Fiction by Kuzuha Makino
An abused young mother finds safety with her former teacher.
Carol Smallwood: Interviewing the Interviewer
MF: You once mentioned to me that you find editors are the unsung heroes of “the business” we are in. Can you elaborate on that?
CS: Editors are behind the scenes, helping others look good. We are there to help and must put our own need to write on hold.
Ava, Lana and Old Bob Campbell
Photo by Ashutosh Nandeshwar on Unsplash *** Ava, Lana, and Old Bob Campbell by Wayne Turmel Contributing Writer Las Vegas, 2018 ob Campbell was seventy-five by this point. He was never much of a BS...
The Refugee, by Zoltán Böszörményi/Review
The Refugee by Zoltán Böszörményi Translated from the Hungarian by Paul Sohar Your Specs/An imprint of SynergEbooks ISBN 978-0-7443-2357-3 Copyright 2019 204 pages Paperback $12.98 on Amazon “There is only one way in which one can endure man’s...
A Grand Adventure/Fiction
A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — Georges Seurat. Art Institute of Chicago *** A Grand Adventure by Gina Willner-Pardo er elderly mother’s death left Laila Rayburn untethered, a condition she had never...
A Room in the World/Fiction
A hundred-dollar radio lurks on the hutch playing its concoction of progressive radio and commercial crap at low volume. By the radio a red scaly organizer suns itself under a craning lamp.
The Reunion/Marlene Olin
He packed a week before his flight, bringing twice the amount of clothes that he needed. A sport coat in case people were dressing up. Jeans in case people were dressing down. A sweater in case it was cold. A golf shirt in case it was warm. For the first time in his life, Calvin went to a fancy salon where they manicured his nails and shaved his beard. He felt buffed and polished, his engine in good working order, his chassis gleaming. He read and reread each of Miriam’s books. He felt ready to tackle the world.
A Hobbit/Fiction by Alf Marks
A Hobbit By Alfred Marks ave comes on the Cronulla Street Mall, hoping the kids will remember what day this is. The early breakfast punters are dotted under their umbrellas. Daughter Zoe likes...
Good Boy/Fiction by Eric DePriester
Good Boy by Eric DePriester tuart grazed the open bar at his high school reunion, forcing conversation long enough to catch the bartender’s eye. As he ordered a scotch on the rocks, a familiar voice...
Larissa Shmailo
Sly Bang / hybrid fiction by Larissa Shmailo You knew this is what the world really looked like all along. A review by RW Spryszak ISBN-13: 978-1947980983 Spuyten Duyvil – New York 2018 198 pages [dropcap style="font-size: 46px;...
Fred Skolnik/Fiction
BASIC FORMS: A PROLOGUE Each thing, insofar as it is in itself, endeavors to persevere in its own being. ─ Spinoza Now we know the language, and we're fluent in it. ─ Philip Glass The following is Chapter 1 of "Basic Forms," the latest novel by Fred...
Larry Smith/Fiction
Unhappy people are America’s new underclass. You run into some guy on the street who’s just been fired from his job and has a family to worry about, and when you ask how he’s doing, he’ll say “I’m doing just great, just great. Busier now than ever.” He’s not ashamed that he was canned; he’s only ashamed if people think he’s worse off for it, because that would make him a second-class citizen…
Steven Masterson/Fiction
Lucy pulled her arms down his thighs until her hands reached his knees and pushed herself to her feet. Picking up her bag, she walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She didn’t worry about Jonnie stealing anything—he was a nice guy, better than most—but she went nowhere without the bag. She pulled out her needle and spoon, panicked until she found the smack. Sitting on the edge of the old cast-iron tub, she cooked and shot. She let herself lean on the drug; no more panic, no more craving. Lucy didn’t get high—she got normal. As normal as she could…
Perle Besserman/Fiction
Karin doesn’t like Carl’s best friend Benjy, and she doesn’t want to join them in a game of poker, but she doesn’t say so because Benjy (who has come to live with them after being thrown out of his apartment two months ago by his second wife) keeps threatening to kill himself…
Yoshiro Takayasu/Fiction
A few days later, Kiiko said, “Say, what about the story of a woman who makes a bet whether her husband will cheat on her? A friend of hers who bets against her seduces her husband in order to win the bet. It will make you anxious watching him almost succumb to temptation. In the end, he goes back to his wife, and they live happily ever after.”
Alan Swyer/Fiction
Kindred Spirits by Alan Swyer now what's amazing?" Ross said as he and Gelber wolfed down an early morning feast of dumplings and porridge at a dim sum joint in New York's Chinatown. "It's...
Richard Kostelanetz/Fiction
?????? ANSWERS A Cycle of Short-Short Stories Richard Kostelanetz In memory of Novalis [For periodical, print continuously with extra space between entries; if a book, one to a page; wide (Latin?), paginated landscape; so far 94. Resequence to move from cliché...