There’s a cold wind coming in from the North; there’s always a cold wind when Martin comes by. I can feel it in the bones of this old Maine house, whittling the warmth of the wood away in gusts and howls. Its brittle joints creak and moan as crevices in …
Wulfstan followed Margot into the misted atrium. Ferns and leafy plants made a rain forest impression. Hidden speakers pumped out soothing atonal music. A few goldfinches fluttered about, lovely little birds that almost looked fake. This is where people went to refresh themselves after a long spell in the sun. …
“Life asked Death, ‘Why do people love me, but hate you?’ Death responded, ‘Because you are a beautiful lie, and I am a painful truth.’ ” ~Anonymous The woman flicked an inch of ash from her smoke as she sat on a cement step in front of the small café. …
Shaun holds the door for me, but Joey shoves ahead, pulling cigarette and lighter from somewhere. I give him a look, but he lights up anyway, maneuvering his words around his cigarette: “It’s a bar.” “We have to post it.” Boxcar waves a red bar towel towards a No Smoking …
When I speak to my friends we often joke and reminisce about the imaginary friends we used to have as kids, sometimes we would play or discuss things with them and even argue with them, perhaps it was just an instinctive way of preparing ourselves for growing up. The general …
Tantalizing once described how I felt about blackberries. The wild bushes, heavy with fruit, were a gift of summer. But I’ve lost my taste for them. And summer, which once spelled freedom, now just means hot months to endure. I’d been feeling grown-up because I had a new role: guardian. …
SHORT STORY: Pressure by Gary Hoffman [appeared first in Books ‘N Pieces Magazine, July 2017 issue] He knew hoping wasn’t going to save him, but he was doing it anyway. He thought of the cliché ‘hoping against hope,’ but it didn’t make any more sense to him before or …
Short Story: The Diner by Peter Ford [First appeared Books ‘N Pieces Magazine, December 2017 issue] Harry Pinder was a chef like no other. He had never received a bad review, or, if he had, he was as certain as he could be that no other diner would have read …
SHORT STORY: To Hell with Descartes by Jonathan deBurca Butler [First printed Books ‘N Pieces Magazine, December 2017] “See that girl there?” asked Jedebiah Smallman. His friend, arms-folded leaning back on a sulking clef-back bench, soaked up the early morning sun. “Which one?” asked his friend, opening his left eye …
SHORT STORY Wasp Men: Guts and Glory by William Gensburger [First appeared Books ‘N Pieces Magazine, July 2017] “A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.” ~ Napoleon Bonaparte I watch the wasp flit around the back yard, checking out the nooks and crannies …
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