Category: Fiction

The three new bar stools came from EasyMart each with its own compact box. Some engineer with considerable ingenuity had packaged the legs, seat cushion, and other pieces inside the seat back.

So there Greg sat, not saying a word, as he slowly turned the pages of The Cat in the Hat for his daughter, Linda, who was snuggled against him.

He marched into her classroom with that air of confidence particular to ten-year-old males. After two decades in Room 106 – 4th grade she could detect it.

He woke up before the crowing of the rooster, something he hadn’t done in a long time. There was only one rooster left now, a strutting white leghorn with tan wings and black spots on his chest. John didn’t feel like waiting for the bird’s morning call though – he was wide-awake.

The air in the inn was heavy with the odor of stale drink. A thick layer of smoke clung to the ceiling like brown algae. Dense yellow light from ancient gas lanterns streaked the room which was jammed with anxious customers murmuring in the murk.

February 4th, 2010 Door County, WI Richard Storm’s right hand clutched at his chest just under his generous left breast – which he’d been self-conscious of his whole life.

I’m rarely surprised by the people I see walking into Slim’s Tavern over on Armitage. Almost all of them are regulars and their faces are familiar. Imagine my surprise, then, when Professor Gardner walked in one summer evening while I was sitting alone at the bar, quietly sipping a beer.

Editor’s note:  We recently received this pair of diamonds from Nancy Rafal. For any who think that 1,200 words are too few to tell a fine story, here are two elegantly crafted ones, the first just short of 300 words, the longer one of less than 500, for 756 words all together.