Glass

Elizabeth Glass has a Masters Degree in Creative Writing from Miami University (OH), and is the recipient of a Kentucky Arts Council grant. She has been published in a variety of journals and magazines such as The Single Hound, Mad Swirl, Writer's Digest, Write from Wrong, and Muscadine Lines: A Southern Journal.

Blondes to the Rescue

We were all ready, hundreds of us, lost in a sea of camouflage that spanned the enormous hangar floor, each clinging to a duffel bag stuffed to bursting with field gear, body armor, gas masks, last wills and testaments. All the things we would need in Afghanistan. The hangar doors were cranked open to reveal a grim, gray morning. Many of the assembled airmen had spilled out onto the tarmac, their bodies lying flat and motionless, like dead fish washed up on a sunless beach. Even more stood clustered around a nearby smoke shack.

Mathews

James Mathews is the author of Last Known Position, a short story collection and winner of the 2008 Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction. His work has appeared in numerous literary journals, including the Florida Review, the South Carolina Review, the Northwest Review, Carolina Quarterly, and many others. He is also a veteran who has served two tours in Iraq. His website is http://www.jamesmathewsonline.com/

Passing on

Idle hands or minds (I can’t remember which) are the devil’s workshop. My mom used to tell me that frequently. Years later I found that what she was really worried about was boredom. Boredom always led me down the road to mischief and usually resulted in some inappropriate behavior on my part, and she knew that.

Talkington

Michael Talkington is a 66-year-old retired mid-westerner. He started writing now that he has the time. He lives with his wife, Laurie, and dog in Sidney, Illinois. His two children are grown.

Dish Towels

Ten days before Christmas, Alex saw her father, standing behind the home goods aisle, slip a stack of embroidered dish towels into his coat pocket. She felt a tinge of shock slowly ooze through her veins and out of her pores. She shivered. She moved closer to her father, rotating her head to look at the bright, celebrity-endorsed linens, among other items. He still stood some distance away, yet she noticed the sinful glisten of sweat.

Barely above a whisper: “Dad?”

Bishop

Jon Bishop is a freelance writer from Wilmington, Massachusettes. He has been published in Boston Literary Magazine, fewerthan500.com, Elf Love:  An Anthology, and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Recently, he wrote and directed a one-act play entitled 'Chess Match.'

Uncle Jerry

My uncle Jerry lost his eye after falling out of a tree when he was 10-years-old. He had been in the backyard playing in the solitary maple right outside the kitchen window when he stepped on a weak branch. It snapped under him and Jerry was sent stumbling face-first into a set of branches before crashing onto the lawn. One of those branches snagged his left eye while the rest of his body fell downwards.

“Skewered it right out," he told me with a laugh, giving a tap to the black eye patch guarding the socket.

Van Den Bosch

Sarah Van Den Bosch is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago with her BA in Fiction Writing. She has been previously published in Bartleby-Snopes and the now defunct, Aposiopieces. When not writing, Sarah is nose-deep in a book or scouring craigslist for sweet deals.

Here Comes Godot

THE CHARACTERS

MR VLADIMIR, An unemployed gentleman, 40s, looks older
MS ESTRAGON, An unemployed lady, 40s, looks older
MR GODOT, Their visitor, elderly
MS GENTILE, A Social Worker, 20s

THE PLACE

The living room of Mr Vladimir and Ms Estragon

THE TIME

Recently

 

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