By: Todd Mercer Four nights we dug a tunnel from the basement of the Jolly Roger pub to a spot directly below the vault of a bank. If you read the news much, you know which bank. We dug it…

By: Jim Bates Meadowlark on a telephone wireYellow breast feathers shining brightlyBackyard summertime sunPausing from a game of catch listeningThe trilling song of wonder filling the airThe boy smiledHe tossed his younger brother the baseball and set his mitt down“What’s…

Imagine a moment when your own child turns to you and says, “Mom, you don’t do anything.” This was exactly what Sahana faced in 2016 when her daughter expressed these words. Determined to set a positive example, Sahana embarked on…

By Karen Lee Stradford Black Cadillac Daddy’s gone.The scent of his colognestill lingersas I enter,4-door Deville sitsin the cold garagewaiting to ride again.Tank full of gas,dusty hoodreadyto see the road. Glove compartmentpacked withCDs and tissues,masks in the console.Las Vegas hat…

By: Michael Craig Living Anguish A Loss so unfair worse the life left in total despair Silently in the night or on the busiest of days Unrelenting this fatal pain a true love sustains An emptiness no one can fill,…

By: James Aitchison Take refuge in the eternal.It is not complex.Ignore the world around you;it is not your time and place,it is impermanent.I am the eternal voicethat speaks to all men,in every one of their stages.You have been given a…

By Onkar Sharma Linda S. Gunther’s investigative novel, Death is a Great Disguiser, intricately weaves a tapestry of suspense and mystery that keeps readers hooked from the first page to the last. Set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic,…

By: David William Jurgenson I exhale a ball of inky white cigarette smoke and narrow my eyes. “We know it’s you Hooper. We know you’re the Crimson Killer. CSI ran an analysis on the killer’s hair we found on the…

By Patty Somlo             By the time I got a job at The Boathouse, I had been a waitress for years, first while a sophomore at American University, in Washington, D.C. During my one semester at the on-campus bar, The…

By: Mary Bone Blood Suckers I carried them through deep brushand high grass.My paws try to scratch them out of my fur.Ticks and fleas drain my energy.A flea collar was attached to my neck.This was my only relief froman onslaught…