Contributing Writer 9/3/23 Contributing Writer 9/3/23

The Cereal Wish | Part 4

As you have already learned, I am a quick thinker. Like, how I used my second wish to live inside of the classic sitcom Cheers. Yep. Everything is going to be smooth sailing from here on out.

It’s true that I’ll miss my girlfriend, Sarah, but as Dave Matthews said in a Facebook post in 2018, “What a great ending of a great tour!”

Norm walks over to me.

MT Cozzola 9/2/23 MT Cozzola 9/2/23

The Cereal Wish | Part 3

“What can I do for you?” asked the funnel of incense as it materialized into a small-boned woman in a red Chanel suit.

Guest User 9/1/23 Guest User 9/1/23

The Cereal Wish | Part 2

And there I was, twenty minutes later out trucking with Maggie four blocks away now from our place down Algren Street. It seemed to be nap time for the rest of the world while I took the much-needed air.

David Himmel 8/31/23 David Himmel 8/31/23

The Cereal Wish | Part 1 (Again)

Thank God for the dog. If not for her, my girlfriend wouldn’t let me leave the house. When the pandemic got serious, she didn’t care about toilet paper; she b-lined it for the milk. Our freezer is perfectly packed with Swedish meatballs, broccoli florets, and twenty-three gallon-size Ziplocs of milk.

Don Hall 5/23/23 Don Hall 5/23/23

SWEAT

Sweat isn’t a lollipop or a bag of money. Sweat may not be as pretty or fun as shivering. But sweat is a necessary evil in most cases and a physical sign that you’re having sex correctly.

Don Hall 5/16/23 Don Hall 5/16/23

The Broken Machine

Jack took a deep breath. "Why is it so easy for you to dismiss the truth for your convenience? You have to understand that the personal is political, right?

Don Hall 3/25/23 Don Hall 3/25/23

Social Media is a Vampire

A vampire can't come into your home unless invited. We invite too many bloodsuckers into our living rooms and wonder why there are holes in our neck.

Joe Mallon 2/16/23 Joe Mallon 2/16/23

Killer

Connor smiled…. “Ye made a mistake, lad. A dire one, I’m afraid. Ye ran into a fella like me. Too bad for you.

“We have police business with this young man. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to ask you to leave.”

Jenni Thurston 12/23/22 Jenni Thurston 12/23/22

Santa's Gift

Ricky stood in the snow with one sneaker untied and his backpack hanging far too low on his back. His breath misted in the frigid December air. He shook, but not from the cold. His mother taught him to layer up, making it almost impossible to catch a chill.

No, his shivers were from fear. A fear he had every year. But this year was going to be different.

Wayne Lerner 11/29/22 Wayne Lerner 11/29/22

The Wooden Door (3)

Martha took Lamar’s hand. “This gang warfare is senseless. It will get you nowhere,” she said. Then she took Paulie’s hand. “Don’t you understand that if you beat Lamar and his boys, there will always be someone else waiting to take you on. The battle will never end.”

Wayne Lerner 11/15/22 Wayne Lerner 11/15/22

The Wooden Door (1)

The old wooden door was a sentry protecting those inside.

Paul Teodo 10/29/22 Paul Teodo 10/29/22

Dead Man’s Hill

What appeared to be a man, hovered over a smoldering fire smoking a cigarette. His bony purple fingers tightly gripping a rectangular bottle.

Paul Teodo 10/13/22 Paul Teodo 10/13/22

Jingle Bell

The bell jingled over the door. Frankie looked up. His apron stained with dried blood. A cleaver in his right hand and the limp leg of a of a recently slaughtered lamb in his other.

David Himmel 8/17/22 David Himmel 8/17/22

A Green Bottle Fly Takes Stock of His Life

This yard is fantastic. There’s never a shortage of poo. Piles of poo everywhere. Look! There’s one! And another over there! And another! Oh, boy, how long has this one been here? Poo doesn’t go rotten does it? Nah, of course not!

Paul Teodo 7/16/22 Paul Teodo 7/16/22

Without Honors

It’d been 5 days since the assembly fuck-up. The house was like a morgue. Nobody’d talked to nobody. I worked as much overtime as they threw at me just to stay away.

Joe Mallon 7/2/22 Joe Mallon 7/2/22

Chapter Forty-Nine

Mickey turned and raised his eyebrows to him. “She smokes.” He inhaled from the depths of his belly, smiling, closing his eyes. “Smell that? What you think she does with those ashes?”

Paul Teodo 6/12/22 Paul Teodo 6/12/22

[EXCERPT] Gorski and The Goat

On a urine-stained olive green cot in the back room of Rosalda’s Cantina in Ciudad Juarez, I came to. Blacked out. Again. A smell I couldn’t quite put a finger on. Rank breath, a muffled gurgle and what felt like whiskers. I hope not our hostess, or worse, one of her chicas.

Don Hall 6/9/22 Don Hall 6/9/22

The Truth Will Set You Free...

Here it comes, kid. For some time upcoming, you'll pass those places and moments when things were shiny and wonderful but the patina of betrayal will be right there to make each one bittersweet. Sonofabitch, I hate this part.

Don Hall 6/7/22 Don Hall 6/7/22

The Foley Artiste

She wanted to be lusted after, to be prey to the kind of men who fetishized her. She understood that kind of power over men. Her husband was not susceptible to that sort of control and, she imagined he might not be even if his eyes functioned.

Don Hall 6/4/22 Don Hall 6/4/22

The Dumbass Tree

The tree loved the woman but even more than the woman
The tree loved the idea of being in love.
What the tree didn't know
Because trees were long on roots but fucking short on brains
Was that woman only loved two things:
Herself and immediate gratification.