Double Decker

My name's Dan, but they call me Double Decker because one time I got in a fight and knocked out two guys with one punch. That was the last scuffle I was involved in because ever since, people mostly try to avoid making me angry. There was that one time a drunk guy pulled a knife on me, but the bouncers pulled him away before anything happened.

I'll tell you a secret. That double knockout thing never really happened. I just started telling the story one night and people believe it because I'm 6'-6''. Pretty funny, huh?

What's your name?

Reunion

I was only seventeen when I gave my baby girl away to a loving family. My parents were by my side as my heart ached and I cried to sleep every night.

Happily married with two grown sons, my thoughts still frequented that sweet red-faced baby I left behind.

I felt my heart palpitate and my hands tremble, but my boys told me not to worry.

Molly had doubts but agreed to come.

The doorbell rings.

I straightened my clothes and took a deep breath.

On the other side of the door was my daughter waiting to meet her mother.

From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher

The Ascent

The door heaves open. Light floods me while darkness retreats inside me. The guards shove me outside my cell. On the stairs, my heart beats like a war drum. One step. Two. Many more. While my chains gently clink. At the summit, I look down and the people cheer. I see their mouths moving but I can’t hear a sound. All I hear is my panicked breath. As they take off my chains, the darkness escapes. I feel so light that I lose the ground under my feet. I smile, in the twenty-five meters that separate me from the abyss.

From Guest Contributor Davide Risso

Davide grew up in Italy, but his itchy feet led him to live in Ireland, Germany, the United States, and travel around the globe. Scientist by training, writer by passion, rock climber by vocation, his fiction has appeared in Flash Fiction Magazine, RumbleFish Press, Literary Yard, and Cranked Anvil among others.

Haunting Silence

“If Sam took a hearing test today, she’d fail it in the left ear, probably both.” The doctor points to diagrams, talks about adenoids and semi-clear liquid the color and consistency of honey.

Since January, I’ve watched Samantha’s world get smaller. She laboriously mastered “DaDa” and nothing more.

The doctor and my wife talk about tubes and advances in the technology of tubes.

I’m haunted by an image I haven’t seen yet—Sam unconscious, on a white hospital sheet awaiting surgery. I see this when I check on her.

In her crib, the sheets are pink, stuffed animals all around.From Guest Contributor Shane Borrowman

The March Waters

The stillness of the air weighed heavily on the landscape. The lake, melted during the false summer, was paved over again.

Every kid in the neighborhood was under strict orders to stay off the ice. After the first melt happens, you can't trust its solidity.

The best part about even the mildest of late winter storms is that school shuts down but parents still have to work. By 10AM all the boys, and a few of the girls, had started an epic hockey game.

That night, they all bristled at the injustice of their punishment. After all, they'd been right.

The Present

“Are you okay, Ed?”

To relieve the pressure, Ed tugged on his undershirt collar. He and Mel were at the counter of AL'S DINER.

“My Aunt...”

“What?”

His words came haltingly.

“Aunt Edna...”

Each holiday, she gave the constricting presents.

Before Ed, they went to Uncle Fred. The poor man suffered from the waist down. After the holidays, he always had trouble with his privates.

Always Edna's too-tight underwear.

“Your throat, Ed? Can you swallow the oatmeal?”

His jugulars stood out.

He twisted awkwardly on the swivel seat.

His throat?

His undershirt?

“It's not the throat I'm worried about, Mel.”

From Guest Contributor David Sydney

Open Up Your Heart

The door slammed shut so forcefully, Winston felt the reverberations from his bedroom.

It was better this way. Sarah would never be happy. She wanted someone to match her emotions at both ends. He just wasn't built that way. "Don't get too high or too low." That was his motto.

There were probably another 20 minutes before daylight would start creaking through the blinds, but there was no point trying to fall back asleep. So he went to the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal.

Winston wished the fight had started after breakfast. He missed Sarah's pancakes already.

Proposal

The EMT says everything will be okay while the ambulance siren blares in the background. I’m in and out of consciousness and not sure what has happened. The last thing I remember is getting into my car to drive to Ally’s house.

Every inch of my body hurts, I’m tired and so cold. I can’t move because I’m strapped to a gurney. I wish the pain would go away.

Someone with a deep voice speaks to me. "Stay with me, man, don’t go.”

Where would I be going? I can’t move.

I remember. I was going to propose to Ally.

From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher

The Broken Vow

Hank stared at his bloodied hands. Visions of a more peaceful time flashed through his mind, reminders of a life less troubled.

The voice forced such memories aside.

"You've done well."

Hank did not feel worthy of praise. Not after all the death he'd just meted out.

"Don't feel guilty. You did what you must."

The worst part, as far as he was concerned, was that he didn't feel guilty. He'd enjoyed it.

Hank looked at the others around the dinner table. Only his wife seemed to notice that he had broken his vow.

"I guess you're not vegan anymore."

Debunking Resolutions

As the clock ticked towards the ending of a year, Ted was fast asleep.

He got up at noon to have brunch and catch up on emails.

“What are your resolutions for 2025?” asked a friend. Another asked similarly and another…

Ted closed his tablet.

Why should he stress himself about resolutions? Life ought to simply evolve, problems solved along the way.

He got up to make coffee. What, no coffee? Okay, he’ll have some tea. The canister usually filled with various teabags was empty.

Ted decided he would start the next New Year differently, with his kitchen well stocked.

From Guest Contributor Krystyna Fedosejevs