Short Fiction

We teach our children compassion, and are thrilled to see them open their hearts to the world. But when we have to teach them about worldly practicality, how well must they learn those lessons?

If murder were not a crime, would disposing of a dead body merely be considered "littering?"

Kerry D. Stewart has been traveling around the United States for fifty years, and believes that every encounter with another human being is a brush with a potential story. "Writing is as much a way of life as any other deep profession. It just wears out more laptops than most."

It IS there, even though no one will speak of it. It is so near at hand that it can hear us breathe ...

Terence Kuch is a consultant, avid hiker, and world traveler. His publications and acceptances include Ante Review, Clockwise Cat, Colored Chalk, Foliate Oak, Foundling Review, Marginalia, North American Review, and many others. He has studied at the Writers Center, Bethesda, Maryland, and the Mid-American Review Summer Fiction Workshop.

The journey may be long, and who knows what one will encounter along the way? What is known is that the journey is made alone ...

Sometimes you walk right into the devil's lair and don't realize it until it's too late.

If you really knew what the consequences would be, would you ever have put the damn things in your mouth?

"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Yes, when our fear generates paperwork that people can't surmount, that's scary indeed ...

And what will happen if the collective wisdom of the elders does not inform the sudden surge of Progress?

In the end, she had always known that he would ...

It's the booming 80s, and if you want to ride the boom to the good life, you have to make a few sacrifices ... it will all be worth it, won't it?

It's hell being in Hell, and even if you know what the hell it really is, how the hell do you get out of there?

If only the Powers That Be, who endow blessings and curses alike, would descend from their Jovian heights to give a guy a heads-up now and then ...

The message was clear and frequent -- someone had a greeting for Barney ...

The path to the future is paved with cryptic scrawls ...oops!

From the time he was a little boy, was there ever anything that could keep Jack Runner from flying too close to the sun?..

We believed there was no way they could break through; they believed there was no way they could not. And so we watched, waiting, holding on to one last thing ...

None of them had been written, but there were three stories that wanted told ...

With age, comes wisdom, they say. But if the passage of time makes us wise, should we worry about getting too smart for our own good?

It was elite, it was private, it was ... perhaps not quite enough of a good thing ...

Despite loving orchids, dry white wine, and Broadway show tunes, Pete McArdle is married and has three kids in college. When not drilling teeth, he enjoys torturing words, especially adverbs.

One city, two men, two different worlds about to intersect ...

Peter is a speculative fiction writer, most notably the author of the award winning supernatural thriller, "The Grandmaster." He is also the Founder and Managing Editor of Ex Machina Press, a publishing company based in Los Angeles, which was named 2007 PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR by the DIY Book Festival in Los Angeles. (Originally appeared 2009-12-21)

Teddy is a special boy and no one knows it better than Laiken St. James. When her parents try to keep them apart, Laiken leaves home to be with Teddy, but she never expected the consequences of Teddy's wrath. (Originally appeared 2009-10-19)

Was it that he took life too seriously? Or was he afraid that life wouldn't take him seriously at all? No matter -- sometimes you need another perspective, maybe even a sense of humor ... (Originally appeared 2009-10-26)

When Jonas Knutsson left junior high in 8th grade to pursue a career as a gentleman of leisure, said institution made a note of a great general improvement in morale and academic performance and has yet to request his return. He failed to win "The Prize for Gentlemanly Conduct" upon graduation from Junior College, was booted out of film school in Germany before commencing his studies, threatened with expulsion from both New York University and the University of Iceland and is currently barred from The Palooka Bar. (Originally appeared 2009-10-05)

The prose clutches, mashes, grabs Nigel by the lips and turns him inside out -- what more can the infamous Lucy Biatch do to him? (Originally appeared 2009-07-27)

Jim Wisneski is an author and poet living in the Lehigh Valley, PA with his wife, his almost one year old son, two cats, a fish, and a hermit crab. Updates and some of his short stories can be found at his site www.JimWisneski.com. (Originally appeared 2009-08-10)

Mary Andes grew up with the smells of Eucalyptus trees, watching surfers ride the Pacific waves at Hermosa and Redondo Beach, the roller bladers in costume at Venice Beach, the In-and-Out Burger joints, the stucco homes with red-tile roofs, and the old Mission churches with the euphoric music. She later moved to Seattle and therefore resided in constant dribble rain for 20 years. She now lives in Maryland and return to California every few years to recharge my soul and to soak in the healing rays. She is currently writing a children's book with the theme of finding the small joys in life to overcome adversity. (Originally appeared 2009-06-01)