Category: Short Fiction

Editor Picks, General Fiction, Latest News, Short Fiction

Week 549: “Be Nicer, Goddammit!”

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The world has always been a snippy place (for instance, the title of this wrap was sneered at me by my boss in 1981. You can’t say stuff like that to employees anymore, but I am certain that the feeling is still felt). In big cities, especially, people go out in public with war faces on. Regardless, you used to be able to count on a reasonable degree of faked manners from clerks when you were shopping (I was often one of those clerks). Not anymore. Nowadays, it appears that the Corporate Stores hire only soulless people for customer service.

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Short Fiction

Killing Time by Matthew Snyderman

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Ian preferred to drink alone, whether it was booze or coffee he was craving.  That’s when he did his best thinking.  So when local rents and a low-paying service job (the bitter reward for following his passion in college) obliged him to take in roommates, he often found himself at one of the neighborhood’s less trendy cafés.  The kind where the patrons kept mostly to themselves.  His current favorite was The Purple Cow. 

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Latest News, Short Fiction

Week 548 – The Simplicity Of The Choirboys, Concussion Did Us no Harm And A Blood Test Has No Comic Value.

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Hello there folks and folkesses!

Not in a good mood this week. I hate what we have become.

There are those who worry far too much about consequence when there is none to worry about or none of it would matter anyway. It surprises me that some of them can manage to get out of bed with all the worry of ‘What if?’ or ‘I can’t offend.’

You may wonder what has enraged my already raged wrath and it may surprise you.

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General Fiction, Short Fiction

Then They Walked Along by the Riverside by Dale Williams Barrigar

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Then they walked along by the riverside.

The man and woman were walking separately and Cowboy, his pit bull, was on his leash at his side.

Suddenly she half-crashed into the man, almost knocking him over, then pulling him back toward her with her strong, powerful, small arms while Cowboy jumped around on the end of his leash and watched the show.

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Editor Picks, General Fiction, Latest News, Short Fiction

Week 547: Scofflawing the Scythe

ireneallison12

In 1978, at age twenty-one, my brother Jack blew the windows out of his small apartment when he attempted to light the pilot in his oven. He went from some windows to none very quickly. Somehow, he was neither singed nor injured by the brief fireball he described, but the windows did not hold up as well, nor did the landlord’s temper.

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General Fiction, Short Fiction

Full Circle by Soidenet Gue

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The thirty-four days of my mother and father’s divorce felt like thirty-four excruciating weeks. It felt even longer on weekends, depending on what sort of breakfasts I shared with my mother at the dining table, all alone in utter, galling silence. One of her chief concerns at the beginning was my curriculum, then came my appetite. “Are you okay, son?” she would ask from time to time. I proved to be a lot tougher than she had realized. Meanwhile, the ten-pound weight loss she had suffered thus far to her own detriment appeared in full display from her cheekbones to her stomach. She would water the indoor snake plants several times on her days off if I failed to remind her not to repeat this process. I had to deal with the most critical ingredients missing from her once-palatable recipes.

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Short Fiction

Costco Saturday by Tobi Pledger

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My stomach growls like a badger as I park my silver Rav4 and walk toward the entrance. As a distraction from the rumbling, I consider the questions I always have when I come here. What is the deal with that iconic red bark mulch? Is it pine mulch that’s been dyed, or is it made from California redwood trees? And, why did Costco planners put the cart corral for incoming shoppers next to the exit door? The cross traffic is a serious problem.

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Literally Reruns, Short Fiction

Literally Reruns – Marco Etheridge

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Marco Etheridge (and, now, his son Liam) has a wonderfully twisted POV in his writing. He also knows how to twerk an Edito’s nose, so to speak. You can deride any sort of premise in front of him and we will find a way to turn it into a winner.

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