2026 Flash Fiction Contest Winners by Erika Raskin and Mary Esselman We were privileged again to read a vast expanse of small worlds through our flash fiction contest. And once again, the different structures and […]

He Died In Her Sleep Peter Wallace     Another Medicare commercial came on TV. It was getting to be time for bed. Brad knew that if he didn’t turn off the television and get […]

The Odd and Tender Clarity of 4 AM Kathleen McKitty Harris   Irish-American New Yorkers—especially those of the Catholic persuasion—have a knack for fatalist worst-case scenarios. Maybe it’s the indige […]

Booking It by E. H. Jacobs I was strolling with my wife in Brookline, Massachusetts, on a charming street with clothing and gift stores, Japanese restaurants, delis, and a […]

The Alley by Alex Joyner Somewhere locked in geostationary orbit over Virginia, a satellite maintains its dumb stare. Prompt it with a series of numbers and you can provoke it […]

Foie Gras by Nathan Cover “What’s wrong with pear trees?” I ask, wondering if my dad is getting senile. “Well, they’re an invasive species. They’re not allowed to sell the […]

Mattering To Fiona by Ginger Moran I was listening to NPR on my way home from the dentist today and it turned out to be one of those shows I carried into my house when I got […]

Two Homes by Douglas Cole He took his bike from under the porch and rode down the driveway and out onto the sidewalk. He rode around the corner and east on 47th Street past the […]

For the Sake of a Quarter by Gayla Mills If you’ve shopped at Aldi, the German-based grocery that’s expanding around the U.S., then you know their shopping cart system. You insert a qua […]

A Tavern in The Village by David W. Berner Black-faced sheep stand still in the valley along the Great Western Railway line, filling their bellies with the grass of the English countryside. […]

Coming Down the Mountain by E. H. Jacobs The way down is always harder than the way up. On the way up a mountain, your muscles strain to push you vertically. Going down, you’re already t […]

Good Friday by Kathleen McKitty Harris   My Irish Catholic grandmother—no slouch herself to rosary beads and the Stations of the Cross—had a friend, Wilma, who was far more pious than […]

Distances by Barbara Baer I’d already missed two periods before I went to Planned Parenthood in Berkeley. I knew the result before a woman asked if I wanted counseling. She h […]

Deconstructing Unicorns and Mermaids by Deborah M. Prum My four-year-old granddaughter, “Zoe”, lives out-of-state. We often meet via Zoom. She and I share a screen and explore her burning questions by […]

Adrienne by Lisa Ben-Shoshan   She is a large woman. In another place or circumstance, she would have been the woman in the flowery housedress with fluffy mules on her feet. […]

After the Blizzard by Trudy Hale We had warning. A dangerous blizzard sweeps across the eastern United States. Be prepared. The young man stacks firewood on my porch and in the […]

Holding Onto The Past Through Fiction by Virginia Pye What happens to the homes where we once lived? Homes we left behind, in childhood when it wasn’t a choice, as an adult when it was necessary for w […]

So Be It by Tyler Scott Spring. Finally. After several snowstorms, ice, and being stuck in the house for days on end, Louise couldn’t wait to get in her yard. The daffodils h […]

By Shirley's Side by Peter Wallace The sixty-year-old woman is sleeping at the moment, so I sit on a worn brown couch in the family waiting room down the hall from Shirley. It’s not t […]