Posts Tagged ‘ XIV.III ’

“Weird Stuff,” by John Abernathy

Dec 20th, 2017 | By

I told her, “I like weird stuff,” and she didn’t immediately leave.

In fact she said, “Mmmmmm,” because her mouth was full of calamari rigatoni, and then, “I like weird stuff, too.”

I leaned toward her and kept my voice down so the other diners wouldn’t hear. “Yeah? Like what?”



“Knick Knack Wars,” by Brooke Reynolds

Dec 20th, 2017 | By

Fred opened his apartment door at Shady Maples Retirement Home to a crime scene; someone had fiddled with his knick knacks. All residents at Shady Maples were given one small end table and a smidgen of wall space to display their memories. The halls were filled with old ceramic Christmas villages, poodles made from plaster, and all the precious moments of life carved out of stone. The scent of moth balls and musty yellowed newspaper articles filled the stale morning air.



“Office Cleaning,” by Klaus Nannestad

Dec 20th, 2017 | By

Jason was a charming and attractive lawyer working at one of the biggest firms in America. He was almost everything a man could wish to be, except for one thing, he was dead. Rick, meanwhile, was a cleaner who was plump, socially awkward and who had just discovered a corpse in the kitchen while mopping the third floor of the office.



“Inky, Blinky: A Pac-Man Villanelle,” by Mitch Frye

Dec 20th, 2017 | By

The sheet peels off. The spirit dies,
Yet sight persists as through a haze.
In death, we’re left with just our eyes.



“A is for Addiction,” by Liz Sellier

Dec 20th, 2017 | By

A drafty basement. Bitter coffee. 12 steps.
Attendees join four-fingered hands
and bow blue, green, orange, yellow heads,
in surrender and serenity.