Tag: short story
-
Spartacus Along the Silk Road by Eric Smith
Prelude:It is better to invite one thousand sinners to a party of saints than unleash one neutral man among the good. The opposite of course is not true. Jaguars, ambivalent loners, unlike proud lions, are always restless until they pounce. China. She’s jealous… When China wants a new religion,…
-
The Digger by Marco Etheridge
Digging for old bones is best done by night and the digger knows this. He wields his shovel under starlight and moonlight, serenaded by the nocturnal creatures of the Missouri woods. The night is ebony edged in silver, but it ain’t quiet. Whippoorwills mourn their own name from maple…
-
Goddess of the Beach by Zack Taft
She settled herself into the warm sand; her eyes closed for a moment. It felt like a dream. She was barefooted and wearing a red dress, a floppy straw hat, and oversized sunglasses. “Grampa, will you stop that?” He was doing an embarrassing dance on the white sand, mumbling…
-
Too Many Heavens by Bill Schillaci
The homes atop Pine Crest, the highest road in the town, were baronial and of another age, even with the obvious modernizations, the central AC units secreted behind muscular rhododendron bushes, the security cameras bolted to the roof soffits and the automatic sprinkler heads and child-safe trampolines in the front…
-
While She Sleeps by Bob Tomolillo
Last night my Icelandic wife spoke Spanish in her sleep. “Es muy importante,” she said. Many years ago she vacationed in Barcelona. Sometimes she sleeps with her arms outstretched. “There are a lot of people in my head at night,” she says, as I help her slip…
-
If the Men in My Life Had Thoughts by Abbey Comey
I want to talk to Sloane, but I don’t want her to think that I’m asking her on a date, so I ask her to come with me to get my tetanus shot. I had my last one when I was nine, and I can I I still remember how…
-
Oh Where, Oh Where Has Our Little Boy Gone? by Eileen Sateriale
This piece was selected in honor of Veteran’s Day and all of the men and women who lost their lives in defense of this country’s honor. “The Secretary of Defense informs you that Corporal Bruce Graham is missing in action. Last seen, Seoul, South Korea, March 8, 1953,” said the…
-
Mercy for Miss Bint by Sandra Arnold
All twelve of us were in Mercy’s room lounging on her bed when the new housekeeper strode in without knocking and introduced herself. We clamped our lips and nodded, blank-face polite. But as soon as she marched out again and slammed the door behind her we collapsed into hysterical laughter.…
-
Would They Even Want to? by Joseph R. Goodall
The walls of the Gunther house rattled as if a herd of cattle was stampeding through their Denver cul-de-sac. The burning sun had not yet shown its face as four pairs of feet scuttled along the wooden floors, running to and from the SUV in the driveway. The parents and…