by Jason Grant The entire king-sized bed is mine now, but I can’t seem to move from the left side to the right because on the nights you were here—laying there—if I dared move from my side to yours in the middle of the night it was like I-was-crossing-some-boundary you-needed…
by John Timothy Robinson The elegance of light through sconce-dust glass with swirled, transparent fingerprints in grooves is not as pleasing when the chill sweeps past, this image, so cliché, yet still as true. Six tiny candles flicker in darkness as frozen rain hammers tree-limbs to the ground. They said…
by Thomas Griffin These wet delicate fingers across my face a song barely remembered as I mumble along everything else ever wanted everything thought worthwhile food, friends, acclaim, wealth, work gone and nothing but this melody matters, nothing but wet cheeks Oh! How could I have thought I could live…
by Frank Richards James had just stepped into the kitchen when he heard the garage door opening. His wife, Jan, must have returned from the auction. She was always good at finding overlooked treasures at auctions. He wondered what she’d bought this time. Jan came into the kitchen through the…
by Christian Linville It had been brewing for two days. Some news channels had warned about it, and others just mentioned a light sprinkling. But off the shoreline, out toward the water, you could see it coming for yourself if you looked hard enough—the clouds dark and the lighting flashing….
by Robert Scott Because he was afraid, John Kirk Ormsby, the new managing overseer to that great patch of fertile North Carolina land known as Excelsior Plantation, had passed the night in his office and not at home comfortably in his wife’s good bed. The whitewashed mill office was dimly…
by Linda Cue There are no azalea bushes or cool breezes moving beneath the warmth of the sun. My windows are opened and my door is unlocked. Does anyone know? It’s summer all year long now, and the sun burns even while sitting beneath trees. Is it too late? Even,…
by Rebecca Carenzo “If you can guess what I have in my pocket, you can have it.” “Excuse me?” I ask, turning to face the harried-looking stranger who’d just addressed me out of the blue. I didn’t have a chance to finish my answer before I felt the forceful jab…
By Lois Hard Rain cascades from her cheeks as she mourns the only person she ever really knew. When the advocate comes, he will plead her case, but not until she completes her deed. There is still hope though, even as the liquid drips from her fingertips, and her ashen…