Fiction – Year VII – Number 52 – December 2021

BLINK AND YOU MAY FORGET IT             For the eighth time in the last hour, Clarisse checked her wrist device to see if she was headed to the right place. At this point, there were...

            Dust, dirt and the musk of the breeze. For a short while, all was silent. The hushed breaths of those gathered nearby made hardly any difference. Suddenly, the silence was interrupted by the...

Driving under a forested canopy where slivery needle-nosed pines and slender white birches brushed along the top of my black Mercedes SUV, squeezed among the redwoods that dominated the landscape above the Santa Clara...

The pasta is curling around her finger like a well-trained snake. She’s supposed to eat it, but instead she’s teaching it to obey, because she is the master of nature. She wants to be the...

Polly Andrews is dressed up in her Sunday best, finding herself in a luxurious home ready for a get together, unaware of how she got there. However, this did not look like a joyous...

The smell of a strong cup of jo lingers in the air, permeating my nostrils and filling the room like a noxious gas; a reminder of the mornings I’d wake up to breakfast in...

DAVE, THE COMPLIMENT MACHINE             Tucked into the corner of the break room at Shuman Bask Office, the compliment machine doled out shiny pieces of paper containing individualized affirmations on a continuous basis. Businessmen, secretaries,...

A screech sliced the sultry night silence.  Human, monkey, or bird?  “Get off me!” Steve cried as he strained to clench his ankle.  Yup, definitely human. “If only you had landed on your big butt, your stupid...

Jack was in his early fifties but looked neither young nor old.  His hair was white and he had a light stubble, was overweight and smoked unfiltered cigarettes. His face alternated between boyish to...

The Confinement of Choice “Authorized personnel!” Our Afghan guide pushed through the crowds. “Make way! Authorized personnel!” “Vvvv-vvv…” The plane was hardly audible, and so, so far away… “Authorized persons! Please make way!” The crowd grew thicker,...