~ Featured Fiction ~
Continued
A Mountain For You
by T. Bilgen
This ninety-ninth day
isn’t going anywhere, she thought. It’s been here
ninety-nine days. Green suburb faded in the twilight
and she made careful, complete stops at every deserted
intersection, willing time to get on with it. Her
cellphone sang a bit of Vivaldi. It was Clarence.
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The Primatologists
by Tracy Harris
After a short time spent waiting for the tranquilizer to take
effect on the chimpanzee, Don Fairlord and Carl Aikins approached
the benumbed primate, who lay sprawled out upon the damp green
ground of the African forest. Fairlord was confident and
fearless in his long and cocky strides, but Aikins was cautious
and slow. Aikins displayed in slow motion that he either
lacked Fairlord’s confidence, or lacked confidence if Fairlord.
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Sugar & Spice
by Jim Corwell
‘No Trick or Treaters’,
the sign read. Simple words that no one could misunderstand,
and written in thick, black letters on a big white board
nailed to his front door. Nobody could miss it.
So, when the knock came, Victor
Creeply, fuming, stormed to the door to give the illiterate, idiot
retards the sharp end of his tongue and the flat end of his hand.
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~ Flash Fiction ~
The Captivity
Of Princess Sallya
by Katherine Mankiller
Day One: I
was dragged from my bed, kicking and screaming, in the dark
of night. Where are those bodyguards when you need
them? Probably off
drinking. Worthless, the lot of them. And their
personal hygiene is
appalling!
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Collecting Windows
by Shawn Scarber
Abbey collected windows. One
night, we drove down Marigold in her old beat up Dodge Ram and
found an abandoned house. The building leaned as if its neighbor
had something interesting to say, and it couldn’t hear the words
clearly.
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The Depot
by Jason D. Wittman
Laurie waited in the train
station, swinging her feet as twelve-year-olds do, while the
winter storm howled outside.
The bus had dropped her off just in time. No sooner had she
arrived than blinding whiteness descended upon the earth, and this
isolated depot was all that existed.
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Devlin
by C. A. Gardner
Devlin sits on the wall, kicking his heels against the stones,
head bent to expose his freckled neck. I toss a coin at the foot
of the wall, beyond the dollhouse. Clinking, it strikes, rolls,
spins. He doesn’t look up.
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Copy)
Disembodied Romance
a poem by Glenn E. Smith
If I
brushed my pearly whites
with bug-filled
sap
from maple trees
would you
get
down on your knees
for me, my sweet
Ronaldo?
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Eviction Notice
by Luna Black
The sense of unease definitely emanated from the kitchen. It
was
dark and gloomy, even at mid-day with the sun streaming through
the
lemon-yellow curtains. And there was always, just on the edge of
hearing, a sound like infinitely long snakes dragging their scales
through dirt.
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Extra Credit
by Francis W. Alexander
A soft spring breeze shot through the screen gently brushing
Johns cheek as he sat in front of the computer. He was tired of
the ennui that clung to him like sweat. He couldn't wait until he
was finally allowed to go home.
An IM from Hottygurl popped on the computer screen.
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The Fairy Tale Insurance Company
by Amy M. Smith
It was a dark and stormy
night. Isn’t that how these things are supposed to start? Problem is, it wasn’t dark or stormy. It wasn’t even
night. It was a perfectly beautiful morning. Maybe that’s
why I was caught unaware.
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Fairy Tales
by Kathleen Wallace
Twelve months have now passed since
the experience when
My koan was broken in a triumph of zen.
The years spent in sitting so
straight and so still
Led, at last, to the opening
of the tertiary nostril.
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God Save Me As Me
by Jakob Drud
"Don't forget to wipe your feet. My body's
no longer around to sweep."
Biting back a caustic reply Alexander Stanislaw voice-keyed
his wheelchair
down the nave. His leg stumps itched, and he had
to remind himself that the voice coming from the
speakers was only the first experiment of the Church of
Eternal Memory.
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It Just Ain't The Same
by JC Crumpton
"Would you like to split, Mr. Khent," a
synth-voice asked seemingly from thin air.
I sat there staring at the two nines against the
dealer’s seven of hearts.
"Would you like to split, Mr. Khent?" the voice
insisted.
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Last Meal
by Marsheila Rockwell
It's been
nearly ten years since the wardens last fed me, and,
after today, who knows when I will eat again? Or
if, with those silly activists decrying me as inhumane;
as if hanging a man or choking him with poison were more
gentle means of execution.
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Marvood At Your Service
by Daniel Tarrant
I was sitting in my usual spot
at the Yu-Li-Mada Tavern, sipping some sort of drink. Marvood, the
nasty blue mother that he is, sat down across the table from
me. He made some sort of facial expression. Signifying what, I had
no idea. The Gollli had really weird faces that humans find hard
to read.
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Seeing The Illuminatble
by Lon Prater
The sky above was crowded with boiling red mist, a low bloody
thunderhead that never rained, never broke, and never let through
any but the faintest rays of the Illimitable.
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Smellbox
by Jason Capron
The lady at the desk was
as polite as any other. It was getting hard to find
ammunition for Dad's old pistol.
"That model? From the war?" She
looked at me quizzically.
"Yes. It's my Father's. He
taught me to shoot before he passed on."
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SPECIAL
1st Fiction Publication
