the punchline

flash fiction

by Charles Rammelkamp

Back when death was just another thing to make jokes about – it wasn’t going to happen to Denise any time soon; she was in her thirties, had a kid in middle school and a toddler – on a lark she stipulated in her will that they play the theme song for Family Feud at her funeral. Thumbing her nose at mortality...

nightwalker

flash fiction

by Karen Greenbaum-Maya

I’d leave the house at 5 in the morning, shutting the door discreet behind me. That was a dark time all the year long. No one else awake to see me, no one else leaving that early. No cars crawling half-asleep in darkness, no worried parents offering a ride. I stumped along to wait for the early bus down on the highway. I was a purist. I believed drinking coffee was cheating...

playing Doctor

flash fiction

by Karen Greenbaum-Maya

I found out later how other kids played doctor. We didn’t use white caps with red crosses. No fake thermometers, no spelunking, no groping.  Our doctor waited, eyes shut, while the rest made a circle, clutched hands, entangled as viciously as they could, twisted and knotted on the patch of scratchy Bermuda, all that was left of the tract home yard after the new addition and the patio. Under and over and over, crawling and surmounting, bending and twisting, whatever the joints and limbs could contrive...

Disconnect

flash fiction

by Patricia Hanahoe-Dosch

Someone Monica thought was a friend told her on Facebook that something she'd said was offensive because...she didn’t care why. That mansplaining bitch thinks she knows more than I do about my own job, she thought. Just because she had a similar job and was older. Monica lost her temper and said some cruel things. And yeah, you can use the word about a woman when you’re acting like a man, she said. The woman un-friended her. I didn't like her anyway. She inhaled slowly, trying to calm down...

Sanctuary

flash fiction

by Niles Reddick

I zipped my pants, washed my hands, and heard someone yell “Help!” I looked around the restroom, and I heard the voice again: “Help me! They’re shooting at me.” I peeked out the window and noted a young man waving his arms...