Hiking The Peruvian Andes

Backpacking the Peruvian Andes from Arequipa to Puno, I was out of breath at 15,000 feet. I had only a short distance to go to my lodging, but I decided to rest. I leaned against a stunted tree, opened my backpack, and took out my water and my last sandwich.

An emaciated man wearing faded pants, ragged sandals, and a traditional chullo, approached me. In Spanish, he said that he had not eaten in two days. I told him I did not have far to go, and handed him my sandwich.

He tore it in half and said, “Podemos compartir.”

From Guest Contributor Mel Goldberg

Woodlands

My emaciated body shook in the cold air. I trembled in the woods alone and I am so hungry and thirsty, my stomach churned.

After my family was taken by the Nazis, and I escaped by sheer fortune, I made my way to the forest hoping to find others. I heard families were hiding in the woodlands, but I lost hope and cowered against a tree waiting to die.

I heard rustling and there stood two men and one woman with guns. They lowered their weapons.

The man with the scar on his face spoke. “Come.”

I nodded and followed.

From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher

Butterfly

I staggered out of the time machine, wiping blood from my nose. Like Doctor had warned, radiation attacked my brain as time lapsed.

The man I hunted was under the tree. He’d dismantled humanity and our future.

He waved. His chubby cheeks reddened from the sun.

“Look,” he said. Resting on his small palm, a butterfly.

Wrong year. I didn’t expect to see a child.

He smiled innocently. “For you.”

Smiling back, I reached out.

He closed his fingers, and squeezed. A familiar smirk appeared. “Uh-oh.”

I reeled backwards.

No. I am not a monster. I am not a monster.

From Guest Contributor Umi Agawa

A Matter Of Degree

To explain what had happened to me, my friends showed me a movie called “Blast from the Past,” about a man who spends 35 years in a nuclear fallout shelter before entering the world.

Like him, I’d lived my 22 years underground with my family, never knowing there was anything above us.

Now, looking at the blue sky, sun, stars, and trees, I was sad to have only experienced light from cooking fires and candles.

So my friends showed me another movie called “Encino Man,” about a Cro-Magnon man who’s thousands of years old, frozen since the first Ice Age.

From Guest Contributor Susmita Ramani

Falling From The Sky

In the Arctic North, a flock of snow geese were all aflutter. It was time for them to fly south. They gracefully ascended on the Arctic winds.

The birds flew through the ribbons of primary-colored lights adorning the vast sky.

Further south, a very strange sight appeared above them. Falling through the sky, a human with man-made wings was flailing his arms as a flurry of feathers erupted in all directions.

A group of the geese flew to the man, clutched the wooden wing frames, and escorted him gently to the ground.

"May Zeus reward your kindness," said the man.

From Guest Contributor Deborah Shrimplin

Evening Walk

I still smelled the floral scent of my wife’s perfume and dreamed of her laughing, a soft cackle that used to bring a smile to my face. Her beautiful complexion used to turn heads wherever we went. She was flawless.

One evening the air was perfect for a walk, or so we thought.

That was the evening a man wearing a mask robbed my wallet. When my wife called him a coward, he shot her in the stomach. When she laid on the ground, my hand cupping her head, she whispered, “I love you.”

My world was never the same.

From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher

I'm A Blessed Man

Last night wasn't enough. I wanna take her robe off and enjoy her all over again on the table after breakfast. Fuck work! I'll call off to touch her all over again all day. I'll no-call-no-show to taste her all over again all day. I'll pay a co-worker to clock me in to be in paradise all over again all day. Unfortunate for me bosses don't pay employees to be stay-at-home husbands. Unfortunate for me sex don't pay the bills. She hands me my briefcase and keys. Kisses me goodbye. Tells me she loves me. Sees me off to work.

From Guest Contributor Gary L. Dozier

Jet Fuel

Whenever I take a flight, I prefer to relax with a good book for the duration. The last thing I need is a disruption.

The man next to me had his own system. It involved complaining to the flight attendants about every little annoyance. First it was the seating assignment, then the lack of proper meal service, unless he was willing to pull out his credit card.

Spoiler alert: he wasn't.

The worst part was all of his bellyaching had to go through me, since I'd paid for the aisle.

My big mistake was politely asking him to stop whining.

Supercut

Ray slipped at the top of his building's stoop and flew face first at the cement below. Time elongated as a supercut of his entire life played out like a scene on a museum urn.

There was Ray's first memory: being handed to a smelly, strange man, dressed in red and white with a giant beard. He'd been waiting in line with many other equally scared children. While he screamed, the scary, strange, smelly man laughed and his parents took photos and everyone laughed.

That was really the only memory that came to mind. Ray was only four years old.

Top Ten Tips For Spies In The Dentist’s Office Waiting Room

1. Power down the flip phone (V2.0) hidden in your black loafers.

2. Set video camera sunglasses to record in 4K resolution.

3. Be suspicious of anyone sporting sunglasses in waiting room.

4. Scan wall posters for cryptic ciphers such as ‘Password=PW123.’

5. Take notes, e.g., ‘Subject has engaged eye contact.’

6. Respond with ‘thank you’ if anyone says ‘You’re acting all weird, man.’

7. Refuse offers of Xylitol-laced lollipops, esp. sour cherry flavoured.

8. Ask yourself, ‘Does my dentist have a Russian accent?’

9. Keep eyes open, mouth shut, antenna tuned.

10. Avoid divulging important state secrets while sedated.

From Guest Contributor Elizabeth Murphy