Very Emotional

Bart is in the middle of throwing a tantrum, to the point where his words become largely unintelligible.

"Anger at high levels. Refusing all requests."

The experts estimate that Bart has the mental acuity of a high school student, but his behavior is both erratic and juvenile, filled with insults, threats, and curse words. Most conversations, including the current one, quickly devolve into confrontations. The only solace is that the majority of the invective lacks any connection to reality, meaning the sting is less.

The doctors huddle and agree there's only one solution. "Let's turn Bart off and start over."

Rain

After evensong, her steps are soft on the stairs, and I will denounce these risers with their dips in the middle; it’s been centuries; couldn’t they be repaired now, o ye archbishops? Through the light-coloured thin-glass panes, I can see the skies darkening: how am I supposed to get her home in a storm, my newly blind friend with her damnable tumour? We will be like those lost old farts in the wilderness. My friend shifts her foot towards a stair, seeking. Let the rain fall gently on us, I think; let it fall like a hymn sung in evening.

From Guest Contributor Colleen Addison

Seawater

“Ed, I can't go on.”

“What do you mean, Mel?”

“The water… I can take seawater.”

“Mel, snap out of it. We're in the middle of the desert. We're dying of thirst.”

“No water?… You mean that isn’t the ocean right over there?”

“No, it's the desert. Just sand and more endless sand.”

“No giant waves, huh?”

“Mel, you're hallucinating. You're delirious.”

The sun beat down. Its photons were brutal. The high energy particles must have penetrated Mel's skull.

“No seaweed? No ocean?”

“No, Mel.”

“Thank God… You know, Ed, I always get a little nauseous when I swallow seawater.”

From Guest Contributor David Sydney

Final Instructions

The fight between Lefty Louie and Bonecrusher Rocco was only minutes away. Bonecrusher was an awesome specimen – a huge head, bull neck, and massive chest and biceps.

In Louie's corner, Al, his manager, had a few last words.

“The referee’s going to give you both instructions in the middle of the ring.”

Why a square surface was called a ring Louie didn't understand.

“He's going to tell you to go to a neutral corner when someone's down. Break when he tells you to. Then he'll say let the better man win.”

“What?”

“I know, Louie. Just forget that last part.”

From Guest Contributor David Sydney

Murderous Intentions

He sat on the park bench. Waiting to find his next victim. Women pass by as they take their morning jog.

A woman with meaty thighs and blonde hair grabs his attention. Not too slim, not too heavy. Right in the middle. She is the one. Time to work his magic. He jogs beside her.

“Hi I’m John. Let me just say that even if there wasn’t gravity on earth, I would still fall for you.”

“Smooth, but cute. I’m Kathy.”

They jog together. His mind wanders. How is he going to kill her? Stabbing? Poison?

So many endless possibilities.

From Guest Contributor Alexa Findlay

Alexa is a Creative Writing Major at the University of California, Riverside. She spends her time writing fiction and poetry. Her work has been featured in Pomona Valley Review, Better than Starbucks Magazine, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Halcyon Days, Grotesque Magazine, Blood Moon Rising Magazine, Scarlet Leaf Review, and A Story in 100 words, amongst others.