by Roppotucha Greenberg Pamela, my daughter, doesn’t come because she isn’t into graves lately (or Wordsworth or her maths homework), which is a shame. It’s been a year and I’ve grown a nice kitchenette beside the headstone. You know the way it is. At first, you seep. You squelch through the dark, straining at every molecule in your path. You’re Read More
Category: Trunkated Tales
Trunkated tales demonstrate uncommon pachyderm proverbs that begin with “elephants never…” Each flash fiction tale features at least one elephant in a strikingly human situation. Most tales also occur in a world similar to our own, with the obvious exception of talking pachyderms having a prominent place in human society. Otherwise, trunkated tales create their own realities.
Alone on the Bus
by MJ Christie One ear. One eye. Tattered arms. Tattered legs. Re-sutured seams preserved the life within. Ground-in dirt rouged his cheeks. There was an odour your mum had tried to wash away without success. “Shall we leave Ted at home today?” “No.” You hugged him to your chest. He loved riding the bus. Mum gave in, as always. If Read More
Forever Feathers
By Inga Eissmann Buccella Outside – Sitting motionless on the branchShe looked to take the perfect chance To land way down belowOverlooking the brick patio The young hawk stared at the little boyBut the boy – through the glass – played with a toy Inside – father on the phonewept and sounded sad and alone When the man walked back Read More
Between Wakeful Stillness and Bothered Slumber
by Sophie Kearing “Hello?” I croak. “Oh… did I wake you? It’s nine a.m.” “I know, Mom. I had a rough night. Cara had another… episode.” A judgmental pause, and then: “An episode, Margaret?” I shift under my bedding, which seems to be imbued with the very essence of sleeplessness. I spent last night watching over my daughter, who’d suffered Read More
A Darker Place
by Kenneth L. A. Lineberger A blast of air hurled Kim to the ground. Sound and sand pelted her as she tucked her head. When the din quieted she rolled to her knees and brushed long, black hair out of her face. The collapsed cave entrance stood in ruins before her, rocks and boulders strewn in every direction. A large Read More
You Can’t Be Truly Happy On Tuesdays
by Mileva Anastasiadou I’d hate Tuesdays if it weren’t for you. Tuesdays are boring until five, when you arrive. Mom thinks I deserve better, yet mom doesn’t count, for that’s what moms always say. The clock’s ticking, she’ll say next, which doesn’t sound as threatening as she’d like, as what comes to mind is that huge clock on the wall, Read More
What Are the Odds?
by E. F. S. Byrne John bumped into a stranger, his head falling onto her shoulder. She shrugged him off. The rattle of carriages filled his ears, swamped his mind, blotted out memories, thoughts, imagination, leaving him with the ceaseless rumble of lives shuttling from one station to the next, squeezing in and out of electronic doorways, minding gaps, diving Read More
Through the Glass
by Lucy Zhang Everyone lives in a glass box; he calls himself their keeper. The slightly curved glass panes extend up and around them, leaving the Munro’s Globemallow peeking from the side of the walkways and the freshly cut grass and artificial hills in plain view. Sometimes he imagines what they see: can they distinguish the Beaked Yucca from Aztec Read More
IVF
by Anuja Ghimire Agnes left the prayer hall before the pianist returned to her seat and the happy people who stood up to applaud the middle-aged woman noticed. She needed to wash the baby’s face from her eyes. Sharon had carried him like a prize. He wiggled his feet near the sparkling water, looked at Agnes, and smiled. And Sharon Read More
My Grandpa Knew Mr. Parkinson
by Bojana Stojcic “Let me help you, Grandfather,” said a voice to the old man as he stumbled walking away from the table. Grandpa nodded back, put on his hat he wore with style and, with a profound mistrust of anything new, left the room, unsure about where they had met. “Even elephants forget,” Grandpa joked. What he didn’t see Read More