JUNK by Robert Kalkreuter
JUNK by Robert Kalkreuter She tore through the clutter on the back seat of her husband?s car, scattering the pieces
Continue readingOn a Night Like This by Neeru Anand
On a night like this, he would not have been out. But tonight was different. This was an emergency. The consignment had to be delivered. He glanced back at the life-like statue covered in brown-paper. One of the antiques being shipped out. This would make his fortune the man had assured him. But the night worried him. He preferred nights to be dark and cloudy, the rain falling down in torrents, the stars hidden, the wind howling?all that ensured security guards huddled together, more than ready to wave him through.
Continue readingSweet Vengeance by Spandna Chokhani
I gave my paw one final lick and pressed my nose against the glass. The mangy canine ?I refuse to bestow the dignity of a name on a creature with no sense of personal boundaries or personal hygiene? was, as usual, outside digging in the yard. It was about time, I strained my ears for the unmistakable sound of our human’s footsteps.
Continue readingScatterbrain by Tinashe Chiurugwi
The hole in my head is not growing anymore. It stopped a few hours ago when I felt my brains hard-pressed against the insides of my skull. That is my problem, my hard skull. The hole cannot grow any further without cracking it open, and scattering my brains to reveal that I have an empty mind. When it started I liked it; the feeling of my thoughts interacting with each other as they ran away from the engulfing emptiness. I began to feel my own feelings, before other people could tell how I felt. I discovered my emotions before the chemicals responsible for them formed them.
Continue readingHeavenly Bodies by Frank Hubeny
Heavenly Bodies by Frank Hubeny “I wish I had a heavenly body, but I’m a big, fat black hole. I
Continue readingI really hate doing this! We need help!
I really hate doing this! We need your help again. We have run our: ?Raise Money Campaign? very quietly. It
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A Thank You From Evelyn by Eric Tarago
My wife handed me the small envelope addressed to me in ink. The return address was from San Antonio, which was curious, because I did not know anyone from that city anymore. The friends that I had met there had all reported for duty the same day I did, in other cities and towns
Continue readingAn Aria in Peru by Christopher Niemeyer
An Aria in Peru ?by Christopher Niemeyer Some people make trips to other countries only to immerse themselves in the?
Continue readingOver and Out by Julie Morgan King
Over and Out by Julie Morgan King Simon parked the scooter and jogged up the stairs. He felt as light
Continue readingThe Astrologer by Debashish Majumdar
It was my friend Usha who introduced me to the new arrival in our locality. The astrologer was old, looked wise and he wore a saffron robe. He sat on a charpoy under a banyan tree, sheaves of paper stacked under his folded legs. A well fed green parrot cackled inside a rusted cage. Women of different shapes and sizes, huddled together close to him on a coir mat battling the summer heat.
Continue readingSilent Genesis by L. Cesar Jimenez
My father, Oliver, is busy unloading all our belongings from our myriad luggage. He?s as robotic as the Automatons he crafted to help us with the move. At least they make beeping noises when they need re-charging. Then again, he had always been a silent man. But you?d think him a zombie since the passing of his wife, my mother Eleanor
Continue readingBeside the Sea by Scott Seagram
At the end of the shift, he pushed a crumpled nondescript envelope containing three twenty dollar bills into my palm, but I left feeling empty-handed; he told me I didn?t get the job.
Continue readingWhen Something Goes, Something Remains by Josepha Gutelius
I pause on the fifth step, pursued by no one. And nothing to see, except a painting on the wall of a man wearing my floral nightgown, Colt 45 in hand, a glossy finish. A lousy painting, nothing but an exact reproduction of the last photograph I took of him. Is there nothing left for the imagination anymore? You project a photo slide onto a canvas, then you just fill it in with paint. But it?s so lifelike I have an instant?s reflex to whisk myself out of harm?s way, my head down low, to duck the bullets. But no bullets come, they?ve disappeared, chronologically speaking.
Continue readingOff The Page by Ren?e Hankins
Off The Page ?by Ren?e Hankins ?We haven?t been in one novel in the last five months. Not one.? Binky,
Continue readingGone by Ronald Robert Moore
? Gone ?by Ronald Robert Moore Joe and Sparky ambled between the linear rows of orange trees. Joe proudly
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