The Shot

Ekanth carefully eases the postcard out of its nail. His fingers caress over the smiling faces etched against white peaks and pine-specked slopes. Bittersweet childhood memories rush through him: the long-planned vacation, the magical snow, the family selfie for a postcard, and then the crack of guns. All that remains is the postcard, now framed.

Setting it down with a tremble, he climbs onto the stool beneath the fan. Noose in place, he closes his eyes.

Just then, the doorbell rings. His eyes jerk open. Neha smiles at him from a postcard, the Eiffel towering behind her. His gaze falters.

From Guest Contributor Naga Vydyanathan

Naga likes to pen stories that explore the quiet fears and hidden thoughts of her characters. Her work has been published in online magazines like Literary Stories and MeanPepperVine.

Priorities

Lillith's earliest memory is of her nail poking at her father's love handle. As if her finger was able to inject happiness, and heal the month-to-month worries that emerged as dollar signs in his eyes, just around his pupils.

In high school, Lillith filled out a career questionnaire while watching her mother dust her two-thousand-square-foot ball and chain. What did she want to be? She simply wrote: free.

On her thirtieth birthday, Lillith's parents pulled up to her one-hundred-and-forty-four-square-foot tiny home. As Lillith washed the sand off her feet, her mother whispered to her father, "When's she gonna grow up?"

From Guest Contributor Susan Shiney

Susan is a writer, painter, and teacher originally from Southern California. She is now living in Lille, France.

The Last Nail

Tat. Tat. Tat.

The tapping came in quick bursts. The blows were neither sharp nor strident, but in the absence of all other sound, they echoed in the silence.

Tat. Tat. Tat.

The carpenter was deft. Each nail hammered with economy of effort. If they were not perfectly straight, no human eye could discern a slant.

Tat. Tat. Tat.

As someone who prided himself on the careful attention to detail, it would have been a joy to watch such a master artisan at work.

Tat. Tat. Tat.

But I was too overwhelmed with dread. Which nail would be the last?