And the Editors’ Choice Is… “Potato Eyes” by Kathryn Kulpa Congratulations to Kathryn! Featured Stories The following stories made the short list and have been put into our Featured Stories category. They are listed in no particular order. “Storm Spun” by Ben Nein “Clearing the Soil” by Don Tassone “Moment of Silence” by Ian Rennie…
Writing Contest - Issue 23
Lower Level
By Wayne Scheer
We enter the parking structure in silence and take a ticket from the clicking machine. Eight circles up, we find a spot overlooking the city. You turn away, uncomfortable with heights. We lock the car. I wrap my arm around you. We say nothing. We move to the elevator, one deliberate step at a time.…
Stitches
By Morgan Wood
Unnerving. That is a word. Repulsive. That is another. Revolting. Another decent word. Do they describe my practice? Some would use them. I would not. The blade cuts deep into the sternum of the cadaver. Soon the torso is open. Then there are the organs, bits of human gently placed on the table. Treat what…
Ashes
By Katie Cheyne
The sickly sky hung despondently above the tired skin of the steely ocean, and the waves polished the dull sand, closer to my feet with every caress, until small waterfalls flooded my footprints. As the wind brushed my hair off my shoulder, I closed my eyes imagining it could have been you; perhaps your shadow…
Something Rotten
By Ian Rennie
Last night I saw my father’s ghost. In a sepulchral whisper he told me he had been murdered by my uncle, who had designs on my mother. I told him I knew. I told him he was a worthless drunk who broke Mother’s arm a week before he died, that we had lived in fear…
Fourteen
By Doreen Frick
I was fourteen once. I climbed trees; I wrote letters to boys. And I felt a freedom I’ve not felt since. Because when I was fourteen the world was possible. Boys and Nature and Me, and maybe not even in that order. Fourteen meant that there was still a whole life to live, and I…
The King and Aliens
Aliens land outside the city and head straight for downtown. They resemble hamburgers, their favorite food. They pass McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and other joints, and head for Burger King. The aliens order four hundred hamburgers, and a terrified employee gladly accepts gold nuggets as payment. Upon completion of the large order, customers have scattered. Just gliding…