October, 2019

Three pieces by Suzanne Cottrell

 

All Hands on Deck 

Turbulent waves pitched the twenty-seven foot sailboat.

“Lower the sails.  Hold fast.”

My taut muscles ached.

“Watch out, duck.”

The boom swung.

“Is anyone missing?”

 

Soles on Fire 

Charles and Marissa zig-zagged across the ballroom.

Slow, slow, quick, quick.  Her right heel broke and dangled.

Marissa remained composed.  The competition was at stake.

 

Stirring Secrets

Megan’s children pushed zucchini and beets around their plates for the last time.

New tactic, she added pureed veggies into muffin mix.

“They’ll never know.”

Suzanne Cottrell, an Ohio buckeye by birth, lives with her husband and three rescue dogs in rural Piedmont North Carolina. An outdoor enthusiast and retired teacher, she enjoys reading, writing, knitting, hiking, Pilates, and yoga. Her flash fiction has appeared in Dragon Poet Review, The Pop Machineand Empty Silos (Inwood Indiana Press), Dual Coast Magazine, and Nailpolish Stories, A Tiny and Colorful Literary Journal. She continues to enjoy her ride on the writing journey wave.

 

 

 

Four pieces by Clarissa McFairy

 

Waterbabies

They loll blissfully in the waveless ocean.  Waterbabies in a foreign land.  Unaware of the signs and tsunami warnings in a language they don’t know.

 

Sashay My Way

The ballroom butler longed to dance.  Twirled when tapped on shoulder.  Champagne, Ma’am?  “Sashay my way”, commanded the queen. He bowed deeply after their dance.

 

Hitchcock Blue

After seeing The Birds, she painted her talons.  “Hitchcock blue”, she cooed, clawing at his shirt.  Next day they found his bones in the bed.

 

Second Honeymoon

Her soft golden tresses tumbled like ribbons of linguini into his culinary hands.  Once an Italian chef, always an Italian chef . . . even on second honeymoon.

 

 

Clarissa McFairy lives in Cape Town, South Africa. She writes short stories and poetry for anthologies, at home and abroad. Her poem, La Mia Musa was a vox poetica 2012 Best of the Net nominee. Her poetry book, Strange Bedfellows, published in the USA (Red Dashboard LLC Publishing) is available at Amazon.com. Clarissa says she writes as the muse grabs her and whirls her around the dance floor of life.

 

Two pieces by Maxine Churchman

Beyond the Pale Pink

Our granddaughter opened our gift. Not impressed, she threw the doll down and burst into tears only to be placated with a toy Nerf gun!

Lincoln Park After Dark

The park was dark, lonely. Hearing footfalls in the shadows, I quickened my pace. The footfalls drew closer. I intercepted, bit and drank my fill.

Maxine Churchman lives in Essex UK and has two grown up sons and a not so grown up husband. She has recently started writing poetry and short fiction to share. She also teaches yoga twice a week so neat toe nails, nicely polished, are a must.

 

Two pieces by Madeline Mora-Summonte

Fiction

Hair cut, shave.

Bow tie, cane.

Sunflowers. Card.

Meet at spot. Reminisce. Smile.

Happy anniversary, my love.

Clean up around headstone. Weep.

Say goodbye. Again.

 

Sea Cliff

She hurtles over the edge.

The rocks slit the throat of her madness.

The sea drinks her blood, swallows her body.

But once, she flew.

 

Madeline Mora-Summonte is a writer, a reader, a beach-comber and a tortoise-owner. She is the author of the flash fiction collections The People We Used to Be and Garden of Lost Souls. Visit her online at http://www.MadelineMora-Summonte.com

 

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