Short stories

by Susan Duffield-Lodge From the moment our eyes met I knew in my heart that he was the one. I’d never been a believer in love at first sight. Until now. Destiny can be funny like that; sneaking up on you when you least expect it—one of those magical, memorable moments when love gently taps you on the shoulder. I was immediately transfixed by the sheer beauty and magnificence of him as he began slowly ambling toward me. I found myself assessing his physical bearing from afar—

by Anne M. Carson His cat is both alive, hovering at the moment of simultaneity, and also dead. The cartoon vet puts a sympathetic hand on the client’s shoulder, says, “About your cat Mr Schrödinger, I have good news and bad news.” My cat wasn’t dead and alive, but in two places at once, almost a Schrödinger cat. One version of Charlie was hiding from the new cat sitter, safe in the cupboard at home. The other was in hospital comforting me. Doped up with opiods, my calves wra

by Christopher Dabrowski Human worked again, at a glowing rectangle—he called it a laptop. He looked tired, so Ozzy offered to help: - Get some rest, I'll pat the keyboard for you - he barked. Human stroked his head and moved away. The dog glanced at the device. - I won't even write a "woof, woof". Difficult stamps... However, he decided he wouldn't give up and enthusiastically pawed at random buttons. What is happening? The letters grew! Human came and went pale, reading: -

by Gary Beck I had trouble containing my excitement on the bus ride from my house to my new summer workplace, the Neighborhood Community Center. Just before my sophomore year in high school ended I saw an ad on a bulletin board for junior counselors at a day camp. I called, got an appointment for an interview, went, made a good impression and got the job. This was important to me for many reasons. The biggest was it got me away from the gang five days a week. In my early chil

by Onyinyechi Anyalenkeya He began with the bedroom. She had smashed everything that could be smashed and shredded anything that could be shredded. He wasn’t particularly bothered, they were just things. He never had much property anyway. He had returned to the apartment exactly three weeks after the incident. He got a mop and a bucket of water from the bathroom (thankfully, these had been left out in her destruction-spree). There was no laundry soap so he added   lemon-scent

by Sarah Reynolds Have you ever heard the story of how the mouse got his big ears? As all the animals were formed, some were made bigger and others smaller. As the years passed, the animals forgot why, and so did I. One of the smallest animals that I’ve seen living on a farm was Mouse. Now Mouse didn’t always have large ears. It all started one day, when Mouse was eating seeds in the barn. That’s when Horse stepped on his tail. Mouse yelped out, “eeeekkk, eeeeekkk.” Several m

by Kelli J. Gavin When I was a child, I was quite close with my Grandma Collova. Grandma and I enjoyed games of rummy at her kitchen table and T.V. dinners watching Wheel of Fortune. She would doze after finishing her meal and wouldn’t rouse again until her show had finished. If it was terribly warm, we would sit outside under her shade tree and she would fill a small pool with water where we could cool down until mosquitoes drove us in for the evening. When I received an inv

by Malkeet Kaur The café was always too bright, the kind of light that made you squint even on overcast days. She sat by the window, her hands wrapped around a cup of coffee that had long gone cold. The steam had stopped rising minutes ago, but she hadn’t noticed. Outside, the rain tapped against the glass in uneven rhythms, like a song someone had started but forgotten how to finish. He was supposed to meet her at three. The clock on the wall, its hands chipped and yellowed,