Tag: Short Fiction

All Stories, General Fiction

The Assistant by Doug Hawley

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When Sally saw the ad in the free newspaper “Your Town” she knew that she had to check it out.  “All around assistant, cook, accountant, teacher of tech.  Low pay, but free room and board.”  She was currently barely able to get by as a production assistant on a local television station.  Without a small bequest from her late aunt, she couldn’t afford food and rent.  The parents lived in Spain and she hadn’t seen them for ten years.  Her financial situation made her feel like a child even though she was thirty-three.  The Lakeside address was pretty ritzy, which was another plus.

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All Stories, General Fiction

Green Lizard Lounge by Nina Welch

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Two old lady best friends stand in front of the Green Lizard Lounge , est. 1955. Angie is tall with ample boobs. She has silver hair piled on top of her head stylishly. Lucy’s bleached curly hair makes her look younger than her 84 years. Neither of them dress like old ladies. Angie wears leggings, a black and white striped knit top, and black glittery Tom’s. Lucy wears a denim dress and sandals. They both shop at vintage thrift stores.

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All Stories, General Fiction

Connor Walks the Musqueam by Harrison Kim

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Connor moves his mind in rhythm to the speed of his travel, his thoughts whirl round, the city scene flows by his eyes.   That’s all it is though, a passing.  He keeps counting. He’s made seven hundred fifty-eight steps since he stepped off the bus.

He feels best swinging in his hammock home below the trees. The hammock’s sway copies a rocking cradle, and he feels a child again there, a kid in a twenty-four-year-old body.

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All Stories, General Fiction

Are you looking forward to Christmas? By Penelope Jackson

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I feel like a stranger on the bus. Getting on at the airport, the bus makes the long trip into the city, picking up workers, university students, school children, and Janice.

Janice was seated near the front of the bus and as each person got onto the bus and made their way past the driver, looking for a seat, Janice made eye contact with them. And before they could look away, not wanting to engage, she sprang her question at them.

“Are you looking forward to Christmas?”

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All Stories, General Fiction

Dry by Christopher W. Hall

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I’m parked on her street in front of the house. Hesitating. It’s just my third day back. What will Francesca do? I might have waited even longer if it weren’t for the thought of her sister, Lisa, who always greeted me with a hug and a smile.

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All Stories, General Fiction

Odori’s Grandfather A miniature by O Chŏnghǔi

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Translated from the Korean by Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton

“Hey, Odol! School’s out?” We were on our way home when we heard this. Odori’s grandfather, crouched on the roof of their home and framed by jumbled white clouds streaming through a blue sky, was looking down at us. The prickly autumn sunlight glanced off the orange slate of the roof.

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All Stories, Crime/Mystery/Thriller

Hunting Ground by Gary Earl Ross

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Dr. Dylan Harrington removes the tubed mask from the nose and mouth of Kieu Nguyen—or Katie, as she calls herself on social media pages he’s visited. After shutting off the delivery machine, he gazes at her for several heartbeats. Her blue eyebrow stud matches the stone in each earlobe. Short black hair, upturned nose, bow-shaped mouth, unblemished skin with just enough color to make her exotic. She looks delicious without the thick black glasses now on the counter, atop her Animal Farm paperback. The faint slant of her closed eyes testifies to her mixed parentage. At last the uninsured high schooler reclines in his chair, under general anesthesia. She will stir in ninety minutes, jaw throbbing, wisdom teeth gone, a stitch or two in place, and dental cotton packed around four extraction sites. But before she wakes…

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All Stories, General Fiction, Science Fiction

The Likeability Problem by Kirsten Smith

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Three months to Election Day

“Mazie Tanner has a real likability issue to contend with,” said the slick, over-Botoxed TV pundit. “Folks just aren’t that into her. Polls show her earning a paltry thirty-two percent if the election were held today. That’s no bueno in a gubernatorial race against Robert ‘Mr. Charisma’ Sturgill, who’s got well over sixty percent. Now, if the lady tried smiling once in a blue moon—”

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Literally Reruns, Short Fiction

Literally Reruns – The Flight of Time by Yashar Seyedbhaheri

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It is said that one doesn’t get old until regrets outnumber dreams. I don’t know if that is true, but The Flight of Time by Yashar Seyedbagheri certainly states the case in a most persuasive fashion.

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Latest News, Short Fiction

Week 465 – Colonel Jessup Said It Best, You Don’t Want To Be Able To Hide In Budgie-Smugglers And ‘R’ Will Always Be Their Favourite Letter.

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Here we are at Week 465.

I honestly think that January seems to be one of the longest months in the year. It drags on for ever. It is like the two minutes is to a cat when it’s food bowl is empty.

I know we don’t advocate talking animals but this little section emphasises my point:

‘It has been thirty seconds since I had food. The human is pretending to wash my dish whereas I know that they truly mean to starve me to death. I feel the life force draining from me. If I do survive this day, I shall make them pay. I will be as vocal as my weakened state allows until this matter is resolved or more likely, I die. These may be the last thoughts of me ‘Satan-Shoe Shitter!’

Continue reading “Week 465 – Colonel Jessup Said It Best, You Don’t Want To Be Able To Hide In Budgie-Smugglers And ‘R’ Will Always Be Their Favourite Letter.” →