“Hey Lucy, where’s Mama?” Richard asked when he got home from work. “Don’t bug Mama,” the little girl told her father as he hung up his coat. “She gots a dandy lion, and it’s makin’ her crabby.” A dandy lion? He frowned. Then it hit him what she meant. Dandelions littered their front lawn, and his wife, Maggie, was probably irritated that he hadn’t put down the weed killer as he’d promised over a week ago. “Did you pick s...

Fourteen days until deadline I sank into my favorite pink poofy chair in front of my antique library desk with a stack of crisp white paper in front of me, a newly sharpened pencil in hand, and my cat Buttercup “Butters” purring on her bed in the corner. Tick tock, tick tock—meddling grandfather clock. Tap, tap, tap—impatient pencil against my forehead. “Wake up in there. I need a product name, slogan, and story for the c...

Alex stared at the blinking cursor, which pulsed like a tiny heartbeat on the empty document. The deadline loomed over him like an executioner's axe. Three days left. Three thousand words to go. Zero inspiration. He had tried everything—pacing, caffeine, yelling into the void, sacrificing an old laptop to the gods of creativity (it had felt cathartic but wholly ineffective). His editor's last email was practically seared...

“Martin! Hurry up! You'll be late for school! And you too, Jeannie! What are you doing? You'll miss the bus!” Sally shouted up the stairs. On the stove, the kettle whistled loudly. A voice from the landing yelled back. “Sally! Where's my shirt? Have you ironed it?” “Use your eyes, Bill!” she answered, equally loudly, trying to make herself heard above all the noise. Moments later, her thirteen-year-old daughter appeared a...

She was shocked when the vision appeared. It had been four winters since her mate had succumbed and she hadn’t seen another of her kind since. She’d thought she was the last. The image had appeared in her mind with a clarity that shook her. Only another like her could send such a message. Their sort had been so few for so long that she had lost all hope of ever finding another companion. It had offered something she had n...

ESA only sent married couples into space for these kinds of missions. Something about for better or for worse. Something about ‘til death do us part. We held the fate of the Earth in our hands. Our vow was not only to each other but to humankind as well. Paz and I traveled 91 million miles to get here, so far from Earth that it took eight minutes for a radio signal to reach there. We were suspended a ridiculous 315 miles...

We built a life upon this earth Filled with love and ceaseless mirth Each day brought never-ending laughter Sweet thoughts of happily ever after. We worked so hard and made our plan To travel far across this land But as the time did gather near Those dreams began to disappear Oh, so subtle at the start Were little things that hurt my heart My words unheard, perhaps ignored No matter how much I implored. We had forever, or...

An iron fist grips my chest I release an anguished cry And terror engulfs my core. Broken, I gasp my final breath The shackles fall away And darkness embraces me. Adrift in the eternal abyss I am lost between shadow and flame Until I see a shimmer A shimmer in the void Translucent, radiant, the Veil opens Enticing me with iridescent fingers I am struck by wonder Wonder in my being As I see you, my love Waiting on the othe...

True story: an entire double rainbow has graced our sky for the last two nights in a row. What a potent feeling, to walk out into the street, light rain peppering my hair (or what hair remains, anyway), tickling my scalp I have my phone in hand, ready to take a picture, maybe post it somewhere, Facetok, Instabook, Tikgram. And then I see what I am doing, and pause I don’t need a phone to look at the sky All I need are eye...

“I can explain,” he pleaded, though it came out more like, “I cah eshlaih,” with his mouth stretched around the barrel of my shotgun. I raised my eyebrows, dark rage bubbling inside. “Explain?!” I spat. “Oh, this ought to be good. Let me guess, you came round to balance the books, tripped on the rug, your clothes fell off, and you landed in my miraculously naked wife?” Bryce held up his hands and shook his head against th...

I came out of my bedroom to find my housemate Charlotte gazing at herself in a full-length mirror. She looked quite pretty dressed up in a long blue dress for her sister Sara’s wedding. Her brown hair was trimmed and styled better than I had ever seen it before. A little silver pendant holding a ruby hung from a chain around her neck. Charlotte had even put on makeup beyond just lipstick, a rarity for her. “What do you th...

October 30, 1938 About a half mile into the Detroit-Windsor tunnel, I smell oil burning from running the engine so hard. I pat the dashboard of my old pickup. “Hang in there, baby.” I’m struggling to drive while rotating my head like a damn owl, worrying the walls will collapse around us at any moment. The Detroit River would surely swallow us whole. To make matters worse, we lost the radio when we went underground, so I...

The two young girls played vivaciously in the cool water by the glade. As they splashed and frolicked, their laughter echoed around the mountain valley. The surrounding trees, comprising primarily of larch, beech, and spruce - and, of course, oak – gently whispered their approval. They were safe here. Locals knew not to disturb them. The sisters were special – as was the valley. The power and magic that resided in the tre...

A brutally honest reflection forecasts my nearing end, but at four years and a hundred, I can't complain. My head is bald and mottled; my beard rivals the snow; wrinkled folds for eyelids obstruct my vision. All memories have long since abandoned my decaying mind, yet thoughts of it (for I never knew its name) still linger. Curious as to how one thing can take root in one’s mind, mushrooming until it consumes all other th...

When people think of me they think of food. They say I have a relationship with it, almost as if I’m married to it. I confess it bothers me. It’s Ed I’m married to, and some people in this neighbourhood would do well to mention that a little more. I don’t deny I like cooking. I love baking. It’s shaped me. Christmas at church, I’m the one who brings the fruitcake that they swoon over. I'm the one who advises the ladies of...