Buffalo Parade

The brown, mangy forelock and beard of the drum major serves as a baton for the rest of the herd despite being littered with straw. He marches forward without waiting for his retinue to follow. Their accordance is coded in.

The troop rushes forward like a flood of molasses, slow at every moment, but before we know it, we're drowning in buffalo, breathing in their musk. They pretend to ignore us as we snap photos and move as far too close. They seem more like comfortable bedding than a physical threat.

Neither group understands the true danger it is in.

Once In A Lifetime

It was a once-in-a-221-year-event, the simultaneous emergence of two different cicada broods. One was the 13-year group. The other, the 17-year variety. So, as predicted, a trillion cicadas emerged, one-by-one, from the warming soil. Sam and Waldo were two such cicadas.

"Can you believe it?"

"What, Sam?"

"We're In the southeastern United States."

"What a racket."

Cicadas make noise through a special organ, a tymbal.

"What?"

It was increasingly hard to hear.

"HEY, WALDO?"

"YEAH."

"I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SAY IT."

"WHAT?"

"I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU...BUT AFTER 221 YEARS, I THOUGHT IT'D BE A LOT BETTER THAN THIS."

From Guest Contributor David Sydney

Indigo Bunting

My partner and I were visiting a local park with friends. As we headed out one of the hiking trails, we crossed paths with a large group of birders returning from the field.

As their group neared us, we heard one phrase; “it was an indigo bunting.” Everyone in the group exploded with laughter. We laughed, too, because laughter is contagious. But after they passed, we were baffled.

I spent the rest of the day trying to think of anything involving an indigo bunting that could be that funny. To this day, if someone says, “indigo bunting,” I giggle uncontrollably.

From Guest Contributor Johanna Haas

Equals

“Hurry up with those bricks!” the manager screamed.

The workers glared at him but moved faster, wheeling bricks to the concrete slab.

Looking at his watch, the manager scowled. “This building isn’t going to make itself. If you work harder, maybe one day you’ll be my equal.”

The group of men laughed and shook their heads. They spoke in their native tongue, their words meaningless to the manager.

“What are you saying? Speak English!”

They looked at him with contempt, and a man stepped forward before answering, “Learn our language and find out, then maybe someday you’ll be our equal.”

From Guest Contributor Caitlyn Palmer

An Appreciation Of Nature

NATURE SUBMISSION:

David led the group to the African Savanna. He'd been here many times and knew the habits of the big cats, in particular the lions, which were what everyone wanted to see. "They mostly just lay around in the sun, resting. But watching them feed is a transformative experience."

No one seemed impressed. Even the children were more interested in their phones than looking at the animals. It was a sad commentary on the state of the world.

"Acting this way can get you killed in the wild," he warned.

"Good thing we're at the zoo then," one boy retorted.

From Guest Contributor Leonard Panse

One Hundred

We have class together ninety-nine times. Four times a week she sits at the front, eyes bright, hand shooting heavenward. She is always in a group, no space beside her. She never sees me.

Ninety-nine times I try to catch her. Once I run so fast down the stairs I trip, scattering books and pride. She has already gone. She does not see me fall.

Class one hundred. She is late. The front is full. Flustered, she moves to the back, beside me. Seizing chance, I smile, and choke out a word I can’t remember. She smiles. She sees me.

From Guest Contributor Bronwen O'Donnell

Happy Max

Perhaps it’s the abundant sunshine, or the bees pollinating the flowers, or even the birds flying from tree to tree. Or, it could just be that Max is a happy man. Yes, happy. He walks around the neighborhood listening to his favorite group U2 on his iPod. His stride quickens to their song, The Streets Have No Name. He waves to his young neighbor Tammy, who is riding her pink striped bicycle.

“Max, watch out!” Tammy bellows.

Max turns, but it’s too late. The last thing he sees before the car strikes him is birds soaring above, and feet approaching.

From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher

Rex

Marvin is out cold after his drink is spiked.

He wakes up to a group of men around him laughing. The men hate shapeshifters. Each of Marvin’s limbs is tied with rope, the ropes attached to bulldozers.

The signal is given and the bulldozers pull away at the same time.

Marvin is stretched to eight meters, then twenty. At forty meters Marvin snaps into pieces and dies.

Clark the shapeshifter gets there too late. Clark transforms into a T. Rex and says, “Hear you’re looking for me.”

Clark will avenge the death of his best friend, Marvin the Elastic Man.

From Guest Contributor Denny E. Marshall