Fiction - Year III - Number 12 - April 2018

THE CREEDE CONUNDRUMby Mari Wise It’s been eight months since I have seen my family and it’s about time I got back to them. The stresses of life smothered me again, but this time I...

STORY TIMEby Laura Tahir It was August 1976. Sam stopped and looked down from the cab of his Big-OJ Tanker. Under the streetlight near the truck stop exit he saw the ragamuffin shuffling his feet...

MARCH AROUND THE FIELDby Sam Gridley “I want to march around the field and sing again,” Lexie announced as she stepped into the living room. Meg gaped at her.Outside, brick and concrete and asphalt conspired...

THE MIRACLE OF ESTELLEby Joram Piatigorsky For the third time in a row Benjamin didn’t have a single matching pair in the cards he held in his hands. His frustration doubled when Estelle flashed her...

    TERRIBLE BLUEBy Peter Hoppock    The pure blue sky peals in Barton’s ears like a single note from a church organ; harsh and unrelenting enough to shatter the thick glass of the picture window of his...

THE ELEVENTH INCIDENTby Bruce A. Heap Writers as we know are an odd lot.  Rarely are they satisfied with a work and when they are, they are at the whim of the reader who may...

THE BLACK DEATH OF HAPPY HAVENby  A. Elizabeth Herting The residents of the Happy Haven Retirement Community had no idea where the cat came from, just that he had been living there for as long...

WILD THINGSBy Christina Kapp Nana’s body had been outside for upwards of fifteen hours and was partially frozen before anyone found her. Her discovery might have taken even longer, but one of her ponies pushed...

NEW YORK SOUVENIRby Luke Bandy Fred held the copper coin in his fingertips. Its color almost matched his hair and its value matched how he felt about himself. He tightened a grip on the penny...

ALWAYS LOVEby Brandon Abbott  The old man sat alone and watched the family from a distance. If they noticed, they didn't seem to care. Four of them picnicked in the center of the park, beneath...