Category: Short Story
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The Magic of Butterflies by Jim Bates
In the instant before Annie passed away, her Fairy God Mother came to her and held her hand. In the instant after she breathed her final breath, her Fairy God Mother held her to her bosom and said, “Welcome, my dear. Welcome home.” Annie looked at the kindly lady…
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Letter for Mia by Louisa Prince
Six months had passed since Denise had called Mia, her only surviving child. She smirked, the image of a small redhead with unruly curls, her jaw set in a pout and tiny fists clenched “No dress mummy … I hate dresses.” An hour of coaxing, whispering gentle words…
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The Third Wonder of the World by Jeffrey Hantover
My grandfather was the last of the freak hunters. In his younger days he traveled the world to find for circus and carnival sideshows the “Peerless Prodigies of Physical Phenomena & Marvelous Living Human Curiosities.” For a man who left school at fourteen to join a traveling carnival he had…
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Moving on by Abigail Martin
I have mentioned you twice so far in this conversation, neither time by name. The first time was when I talked about the script for a play you directed. The second time was when I brought up a Leonard Cohen vinyl I got for my brother when you and I…
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Cats Shouldn’t Be That Big by Trevor Gay
The cat arrived at approximately 5:07 that Tuesday evening. Stalks of wheat, normally static or singing softly in the breeze, parted and revealed two green, dinnerplate-sized eyes. The aging farmer leaned forward in his rocking chair. The gnarled wood pressed against his iron hands. The farmer had never seen bears…
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Boxes in Burlington by Mike Dwyer
When Sheila Worth came to work that Monday morning wearing a corrugated cardboard box and little else, it brought barely a hint of the commotion to come. We were, after all, inside a Burlington, WI, Packaging Corporation of America plant, where hulking machines crank out thousands of boxes daily. We…
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The Note Inside the Nook by Jonathan Ferrini
“On behalf of the management and staff of the Lookout Lounge high atop the Grand Dame hotel of the beautiful ‘City by the Bay,’ we welcome you to our New Year Celebration welcoming in 1942. “We’re joined by the Xavier Cugat Orchestra whose musicians of magic are finely tuning…
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The Habit of Breathing by Kaitlyn Connors
In the middle of an empty road, Maria lay panting in a pool of her own blood. She held her eyes tightly shut, as if that might quiet the pain in her left side. The pavement was rough on her palms; her jeans were torn and her knees scabbed. …
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A Time to Remember Don Noel
Alicia hadn’t thought about his watch until she called the hospice nurse to confirm that he was gone. She’d long planned to slip his wedding ring off, curious if the engraving – Ted and Alicia, October 14, 1960 – might still be legible. She’d peeked at her own, but the…