(7 min read) by Arthur Davis (U.S.A) Stillness. Staring at the ceiling, then at you. Hair tousled over your cheek. Blanket clinging hopefully to your shoulder. I slowly rolled out of bed, set my right foot, and came around to your side and looked down. I can’t begin to describe the smile on my face. …
Category: Literary Fiction
It Doesn’t Matter
(6 minute read) by William Cass (U.S.A) It was just after 2am when Jan, the ICU charge nurse, called Carl. The phone rang twice before it was answered by a sleepy voice. “Sorry to wake you at this crazy hour,” Jan said, “but we have another one for you, if you’re up to it.” Carl …
A weekend with Hannah Cunningham
(12 minute read) by Francis H Powell (France) It was the usual rush to get ready for work. Hastily drinking coffee and munching some toast. Thinking about the day ahead. My wife applied some makeup. She muttered something; I didn't hear it. The radio was blaring in the background, the weather forecast for the weekend. …
You Lent Me Your Coat
(4 minute read) by Peter McAllister (U.K) Strip lights hum overhead. The familiar blue linoleum beckons me back, past taunting windows and through double doors which shield me temporarily from my nightmare. Why don’t they put plants in here? Something living, thriving. The plastic cup I’m holding, limp from heat, exudes the disappointing acridity of …
What the Wind Brought
(5 minute read) by Sara Quayle (U.S.A) What are you doing Jack? says Mother. If you fall out that window the only thing that will break your fall is the pricker bushes. Oh nothing, I say. Just looking out. Well, get away from there right now, Jackson Smith Emerson! Mother doesn’t know about the Wind. …
The Water
(5 minute read) by Peter Stavros (U.S.A) “I just need to be by the water,” Sadie says as we sit out on the patio, after dinner and our evening walk, watching the burnt orange sun descend beyond the wavering elm trees that separate our property from our neighbor’s. “That’s all I need—just the water.” Sadie’s …
Love Story
(20 minute read) by Donna Graves (U.S.A) Nicole, Alex, and the baby would be somewhere in the Midwest now. They’d left California while the air—deceivingly fresh and cool—gave no hint that blistering triple digits, so normal now, would hit by afternoon. Pam was angry. Too much had happened. Too much had gone wrong. When she’d …
Lace and Nylon
(12 minute read) by Christina Hoag (U.S.A) Rosa bit her lower lip and slid open the top drawer of the dresser. She didn’t know why she was trying to be quiet. Mrs. Ellen and her yapping Maltese were out, but the moment seemed to demand silence. Rosa reached into the pile of underwear and plucked …
The Carnival Lights
(7 minute read) by William Falo (New Jersey) Ember hunted mice around the crooked tombstones as I watched from the pine trees, unable to let her go wild. I violated every rule of a wildlife rehabilitator, but I couldn’t let her go. I took care of her from a kit when a carnie found her running from a barn fire, and he named her Ember. I feared for her, since I saw a mounted fox at the local bar. Its empty …
Some Coins Now
(2 minute read) by Tim Goldstone (Wales) I had been assured that traveller’s stories of dangerous packs of wild dogs roaming the old part of the port were nonsense. Just one more of the tall tales passed from backpacker to backpacker in that part of the world. But it had nonetheless dissuaded me from venturing …
Pocket Fiction 