Deep Moaning Blues

They’re traveling incognito, George Washington with a moustache and Abe Lincoln without a beard. Time is like a river that has jumped its banks and carved a brazen new course through the ruins of fabled industries. They follow its many twists and turns, only to find themselves weeks later cold, ragged, and hungry, and under perpetual ban. Meanwhile, killers walk around free if they’re white and have a badge. It’s as though the laws have been rewritten by malignant algorithms. A night of solid sleep is impossible. The moans that keep waking me up, I finally realize, come from me.

From Guest Contributor Howie Good

Howie Good is the author of more than a dozen poetry collections, including most recently Gunmetal Sky (Thirty West Publishing).

Street Hustle

“Hey man, wanna buy a Rolex,” the punk in the shiny nylon jacket asked as he approached me on the street.

"How much?” I asked as I looked around to see if he had a partner. He didn’t.

“Thirty bucks, and it’s the real thing,” he told me as he handed the watch to me.

I pretended to be examining the watch, when I said “hold on,” as I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out my badge.

“Metro vice,” I announced as I reached for my handcuffs. He spun around and ran like Jack the bear towards Fremont.

From Guest Contributor Leroy B. Vaughn

The Hall Monitor

Bobby walked the halls with his chest puffed out for everyone to see. He could still smell the peculiar mixture of turpentine and his mother's tears he'd used to clean his badge the night before. She'd insisted she had never been prouder.

But Bobby wanted his new title to mean something more than parental recognition. He craved the sort of popularity the richer kids came by naturally. He hungered to be accepted at any lunch table and invited to all the birthdays.

It only took one day to realize he had the power to issue pink slips and nothing more.

The Daily Theme from Figment for Jan. 23, 2012

Create a character who has suddenly and unexpectedly attained some sort of power (in the wider perception of the world the level of authority may be small or great, but for this person, the change dramatic). Write about the moment in which your character truly understands the full extent of his or her new found power for the first time.

Tag, You're Dead

His eyes spoke carefully, were impossible to read, and made me ill at ease. He flashed his badge, hoping to provoke a reaction.

"May I come in, Mr. Collins?" he asked.

"Please."

After a smattering of ill-fitting pleasantries, he got to the point.

"Your 100 words blog, it's interesting, the most popular tag is murder."

"Murder fascinates me. In the theoretical sense."

"And, as you know, six residents in the neighborhood have been murdered in the last three months. All in precisely the same fashion as depicted in your stories."

"Unfortunately, for your sake, that number will be seven after tonight."