Page 47 Short Story Submission Page

I Work Hard for the Money 
I'm sitting at the bus station, minding my own beeswax, when this crazy guy comes up to me. How can I tell he's crazy and cast these aspersions upon an …

Snowbirds 
"Move a little closer. There's too much light." Evelyn shifts in the plastic bucket seat and flicks her wrist like a bird with a broken wing. "That's better." …

The Ham Sandwich Theorem 
On Saturday night Angie gives Matt her list of demands. Impossible, arbitrary, nonsensical demands. But Matt's reaction comes unexpected. He flips open …

Mia 
The blue bucket dangles from the little girl’s hand and scrapes the ground every time she relaxes her sore arm to stretch it. She has been carrying the …

We All Want to Be J. K. Rowling 
My wife has to work. The baby gets colds and needs the insurance for that pink sludge that must be refrigerated and discarded after ten days, so we need …

Resilience 
The house had lain vacant since spring and the two lollipop trees on the patio were sucked dry by the summer wind. Lollipop trees. That's what Jeremy …

Joan's Garden 
It’s been two years, but not a week goes by that I don't think of Joan. I can see the yard from my kitchen window, often as it used to be—a Monet landscape …

Wanna Carrot? 
She had started with the apple. She munched it while she played on her laptop, let the juice go down her face and wiped it with her sleeve. And every time …

BANG 
Bird song. The shrill yip of the dog across the street. A grumble of an engine as it drags a car up a hill. Music. No, not music. Rap. The autumn chill …

Cartwheels 
Would there be a thud when she hit the tile, or would Sheila hear the skull crack? She shudders and clutches Emma more tightly. Thirteen beige Berber …

The Verdana Obit 
"It's like that old joke," Goudy said. "The one that old guy used to tell. Who was it? Youngman? Dangerfield?" "This isn't funny Goudy." "The …

love (lower case) 
I. "I really hope we can still be friends," you say. II. Scrolling back through the worst moments of your life, this is at the top. Up there …

Polio Cats 
A rare smile crossed Ben’s lips as he remembered leaving Poland with the stolen money from Slavatizki’s hidden stash. One night last year, after a cow …

Only Five Minutes 
He hated shopping. Who cared about new kitchen plates anyway? Their blue plates were too cold, his mother said. They no longer fit with the rest of the …

Thief Among Thieves 
All recently immigrated Polish Jews felt somewhat paranoid, and Bumirn Slavatizki was no exception. He stormed into the country with teeth clenched and …

Why Not A Duck? 
“Holiday Help Line, this is Matthew. How can I help you?”

 “I’m going to slit my wrists,” she said. “I hate Thanksgiving. I hate that the Christmas …

Death by Scrabble 
It's a hot day and I hate my wife. We're playing Scrabble. That's how bad it is. I'm 42 years old, it's a blistering hot Sunday afternoon and all I …

To Be Longing For 
A librarian once told me, "To forget a book is forgivable, but to forget the words is a travesty." I am returning a book late, and I haven't finished reading …

A Rose In The Morning 
I turned on the lights, couldn’t believe my eyes. “Take it,” Lowry insisted, proffering what he’d made in the dark. I couldn’t. Couldn’t move, …

Evolution of a Pantry 
It started as a nursery painted an any-baby yellow, festooned with a happy-fish mobile over a crib that met all current safety standards. ‘It’ll be …

Laundry Day 
The day after you left I crawled into the dryer. All I could think about was the big pile of dirty clothes you left behind and how, when you came back …

A Thousand Tricks (an excerpt from the prologue of a novel-in-progress)  
The Sahara Desert, Morocco - 1973 The bus weaves south from Marrakesh through Taroudannt, slowing as it climbs the dizzying highway of the High Atlas. …

Silk 
I was a foodie. I cooked and served foods that had flavors and tastes enough to tantalize and satiate even the most finicky taste buds. I ran a small and …

Death Comes for Simon 
The strip mall closed down for the evening; large, backlit signs flickered out and weary employees sparked matches to light cigarettes on the way to their …

She Screamed 
She screamed and she screamed. She fell back, her body limp and tingling. He rolled over, still holding her waist, and grinned. “You’re welcome.” …

A Day at the Flea Market 
Irene moved a glass figurine from the front of her display table to a safer spot in the center, to rescue it from destruction by the two little brats who …

The Witch's Mark 
Barnesville was a scab on the desert. Locusts had decimated it once by the look of the beat-down shrubs and the sorry way the weeds lay in the pavement …

HIS LIFE 
The world didn’t seem any different to him when he woke. He got up, dressed and made it out the door as usual, but on the bus the thought stuck him that …

Every Thursday 
It wasn’t that long ago that she had cleaned the grout on the kitchen floor, but already it looked dirtier than ever. She wracked her brain in an effort …

The Trashman Cometh 
On Mondays, retiree William Bagley would move a kitchen stool to the living room window. From there he would watch as the trash truck stopped at the curb. …

If He Should Gather His Breath 
The boy woke. His head rested on a thick cushion of moss that covered huge tree roots. He felt the sun through still-closed eyes, felt the warm breeze …

The Universal Language of Women 
My husband and I stayed with Samarah’s Moroccan family on the invitation of her husband, Hamid. We met him on the train, which chugged and spittered along …

The Woman Under the Thames 
Francine marched past the grocers on Spa Road, past the station, toward the River Thames. Spring had arrived, but wasn't evident by looking around. A stiff …

A DIFFERENT WAXING 
She pursed her lips and flicked a sidelong glance at my daughter. If I were a mind reader, I would have seen one word flash across the girl’s forehead…”eeeeyoooou!” …

Between Love and Need  
Love has never satisfied anyone. It has never secured anything more than a fleeting moment of joy that leaves the rest of life an unbearably long epilogue. …