Tuesday, July 30, 2013

The Holiday by Beryl Ensor-Smith

Oom Fanie's orchestra falls apart and he finds himself at a loss, so his daughter-in-law sends him on holiday to Duiwelspoort, in Beryl Ensor-Smith latest delightful slice of Prentburg life.

Losing the last joint on each of three fingers of his right hand was a tragedy for Dolf de Lange. However, the way Oom Fanie carried on about it, anyone would have thought Dolf had deliberately put his …
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Sunday, July 28, 2013

Prepped by Judy Hall

After losing his wife and daghter in a terrible storm, Jared tries to rebuild his life while preparing for the end of the world; by Judy Hall.

Jared lay on his bed, unable to see, but he could hear snatches of her conversation in the other room. She was on the phone. He tried to move but realized he couldn't.

He tried to remember what had happened. He'd come home with Melody after lunch…
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Friday, July 26, 2013

See No Evil by Danielle Lenée Davis

Detective Sydney Valentine is called in by a couple of friends to help find their stolen baby; by Danielle Lenée Davis.

Two pairs of glistening red-rimmed eyes, the color of Hershey's bars, stared back at me. My friends, Veronica and Patrick Harris, faced me from the sectional sofa in their living room. Despair hung in the air like a dense fog. I'm Sydney Valentine and I'm a detective…
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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Digging for Victory by Jude Ellery

Marl and Oof scheme for the easy life on their island prison, but are they underestimating the guards? By Jude Ellery.

Marl is screwing up his eyes and scratching his bald spot the way he does when he's thinking up a plan.

Oof is pretending to read while watching Marl from behind his book.

For a while the only sounds in the six by eight cell are Oof's heavy breathing and the flicking …
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Sunday, July 21, 2013

Persian Carpet by Ricky Ginsburg

A hapless burglar prepares his dream heist in Ricky Ginsburg's comedy short.

Tingo Skrachaballi was not the luckiest of burglars. Despite only two brief incarcerations over a six-year career, Tingo was a crook who couldn't roll a seven with a loaded pair of dice.

Take for example the appliance warehouse he'd staked out for a week on River Street by the Brooklyn Bridge. There was no w…
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Friday, July 19, 2013

Dear Prudence by Katie Karambelas

Katie Karambelas recounts the painful seaside reunion of union two lovers.

I walk into the light and shade my eyes from the blinding glare of the mid-afternoon sun. Once my eyes adjust, I see a sandy blonde mop of hair in the distance attached to a stately body of muscles. My breath catches as my hand flies to my heart. It's been five years since he went away and even the sight of the back of…
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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

FUBAR by Kenneth Sibbett

Kenneth Sibbett's scathingly bitter account of one soldier's experience with the military.

FUBAR: Fucked-up beyond all repair.

The young soldier, still wearing Dress Greens and carrying his duffle bag, was standing on an off-ramp after leaving a truck stop. He was heading east with his thumb out - well, southeast, but that was as the crow flies, and the interstate has a mind of its ow…
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Sunday, July 14, 2013

Everlasting by Laura Stout

A wandering spirit makes contact with an adventurous little boy in Laura Stout's suspenseful ghost story.

It watched the children with envy; an unsettled envy, directed at their gaiety and freedom. Unseen, it drifted among the feathery branches of willows at the forest edge. Their games of chase conjured familiar pale scenes that roamed the spirit's consciousness. Once it had carried the …
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Friday, July 12, 2013

The Japanese Garden by Anne Goodwin

Anne Goodwin's character is thinking about his Japanese garden when he should be paying more attention to his wife.

It's a beautiful summer's evening and we're having dinner out on the patio. We love dining outside, Wilma and I; it's like being on holiday. That's why I made the patio with its ersatz York stone paving and the raised beds for the herbs in the corners. Who…
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Tuesday, July 9, 2013

The Big Day by Michael C Keith

Mitch Connelly's first novel is about to be released to the world, and he is so excited he loses concentration at just the wrong moment; by Michael C Keith.

But the days of golden dreams had perished.  - Emily Bronte
Mitch Connelly woke up excited about the day ahead. An advance copy of his first book, a crime mystery, was due to arrive from the publisher. His anticipation level had be…
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Sunday, July 7, 2013

Another Kind of Harmony by Fred Skolnik

Fred Skolnik tells the story of John and Mary, members of a strange race in a red world.

In the red room the figures come and go. In the red light they give off an eerie glow. In the red dust they twist and turn. There is nothing but this: the red light and the figures that come and go. There are no walls in the red room. It is as big as you want it to be. No one can say for certain how their his…
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Friday, July 5, 2013

A Comma in Coma by Irena Pasvinter

An Oxford comma recovers from a heart attack in Irena Pasvinter's amusing grammatical jaunt.

Allow me to introduce myself: Oxford comma. Some call me serial comma, but I prefer Oxford. I hate serial - it's a killers' word. Call me Oxford comma or Harvard comma (if you have a grudge against Oxford).

I bet you've always thought that commas are just speechless punctuation gadgets. …
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Tuesday, July 2, 2013

A Eulogy for Mildred Elman by Candice Carnes

Candice Carnes' mysterious protagonist reflects on the last few weeks of a grumpy old lady's life and her influence on the people around her.

I always thought Mildred Elman was old and not very nice. I've heard rumors that she was nearly one hundred, but even I can't recall her age for sure. In the last year of her life, she began to go deaf and that made her downright intolerable…
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