Wait for it. No wait. 'Don’t delay, Act Now!' This new issue of 50 to 1 is not only late but it is also jam packed with awesome. I apologize for the delay. Work by: Jessica Otto, Robert Vaughan, Paul Beckman, Tina Barry, Paul Phillips, Gay Degani, and Len Kuntz.
Glen really feels bad about waiting a month to release this issue. GAH!
Bright Room Evening by Len Kuntz
Two am and the stubborn disc outside this Ketchikan window has yet to waver, glaring through the hotel glass at me all whiskey-colored, smoldering with a steam I’ve not seen in years, since that afternoon you said you’d rather be anywhere in the world than with me.
Len Kuntz lives on a lake in rural Washington State with rural sea creatures. His work appears widely on the web and in print and also at lenkuntz.blogspot.com.
Two am and the stubborn disc outside this Ketchikan window has yet to waver, glaring through the hotel glass at me all whiskey-colored, smoldering with a steam I’ve not seen in years, since that afternoon you said you’d rather be anywhere in the world than with me.
Len Kuntz lives on a lake in rural Washington State with rural sea creatures. His work appears widely on the web and in print and also at lenkuntz.blogspot.com.
Before She Left by Gay Degani
The clouds’ ominous umbrella darkened emerald hills, wind more dirge than melody. Fields rippled like lake surf, grave and cold. She perched on the edge of the porch, shotgun in hand, watching their rooster peck maggots from its feathers. She’d shoot Henry when he came back, then the fucking bird.
Gay Degani’s stories can be read at Smokelong Quarterly, Night Train, 10 Flash, Emprise Review. She is the editor of EDF’s Flash Fiction Chronicles and blogs when she has time at Words in Place.
The clouds’ ominous umbrella darkened emerald hills, wind more dirge than melody. Fields rippled like lake surf, grave and cold. She perched on the edge of the porch, shotgun in hand, watching their rooster peck maggots from its feathers. She’d shoot Henry when he came back, then the fucking bird.
Gay Degani’s stories can be read at Smokelong Quarterly, Night Train, 10 Flash, Emprise Review. She is the editor of EDF’s Flash Fiction Chronicles and blogs when she has time at Words in Place.
Justice Is Served, Sir by Paul Phillips
His arrogant defence, his shameless cries of innocence, his smug smile; all came to naught as the judge confirmed what everyone, including the lawyers on both sides, had expected. His depravity had shocked the community. Justice is served but his sentence - still to be decided - will never fit the crime.
Paul Phillips' work can be found at http://crybbe666.blogspot.com/ He has also been published online at MicroHorror, Six Sentences, Powder Flash Burns and BlinkInk. He calls Australia home, but sometimes it won't listen.
His arrogant defence, his shameless cries of innocence, his smug smile; all came to naught as the judge confirmed what everyone, including the lawyers on both sides, had expected. His depravity had shocked the community. Justice is served but his sentence - still to be decided - will never fit the crime.
Paul Phillips' work can be found at http://crybbe666.blogspot.com/ He has also been published online at MicroHorror, Six Sentences, Powder Flash Burns and BlinkInk. He calls Australia home, but sometimes it won't listen.
1st line by Tina Barry
Sometimes, you love your kid too much to see them the way others do.
Tina Barry’s articles and short fiction have appeared in the Boston Literary Magazine; 5 x 5; Short, Fast and Deadly; Thunderclap Press; and are forthcoming in Fractured West; The Linnet’s Wings; and Exposure, an anthology of micro fiction from Cinnamon Press. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Find her on Fictionaut.com or by email at tbarrywrites@yahoo.com.
Sometimes, you love your kid too much to see them the way others do.
Tina Barry’s articles and short fiction have appeared in the Boston Literary Magazine; 5 x 5; Short, Fast and Deadly; Thunderclap Press; and are forthcoming in Fractured West; The Linnet’s Wings; and Exposure, an anthology of micro fiction from Cinnamon Press. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Find her on Fictionaut.com or by email at tbarrywrites@yahoo.com.
Trust Me by Paul Beckman
My cousin Reba called me at work and got right to the point. “Mirsky,” she said, “I’ve got to talk to you but you really have to keep your promise this time and not put this conversation in a story.”
“I promise,” I told her—and hit the record button.
Paul Beckman is a writer, snorkeler, traveler and photographer. He specializes in the short to the extremely short form. His wife, Sandra, is his strongest critic but it's not related to his writing.
My cousin Reba called me at work and got right to the point. “Mirsky,” she said, “I’ve got to talk to you but you really have to keep your promise this time and not put this conversation in a story.”
“I promise,” I told her—and hit the record button.
Paul Beckman is a writer, snorkeler, traveler and photographer. He specializes in the short to the extremely short form. His wife, Sandra, is his strongest critic but it's not related to his writing.
The Frozen River by Robert Vaughan
He sits, stares, the waterfall is nearly frozen. Over his shoulder he sees his Audi. Wonders who’ll find the note first. The edges of the river are frozen. He grinds his last cigarette out. Thinks how long it’ll take to kill the pain.
Robert Vaughan’s plays have been produced in N.Y.C., L.A., S.F. and Milwaukee, where he currently resides. He leads two adult writing roundtables for Redbird- Redoak Studios. His fiction and poetry has/ will appear in numerous magazines including Short, Fast & Deadly, 50 to 1, Heavy Bear, Girls with Insurance, Lesser Flamingo, Clutching at Straws, Thunderclap Press and Tryst. He is a fiction editor at jmww magazine, a flash fiction editor at Thunderclap! Press. His blog, One Writer’s Life, is at http://rgv7735.wordpress.com.
He sits, stares, the waterfall is nearly frozen. Over his shoulder he sees his Audi. Wonders who’ll find the note first. The edges of the river are frozen. He grinds his last cigarette out. Thinks how long it’ll take to kill the pain.
Robert Vaughan’s plays have been produced in N.Y.C., L.A., S.F. and Milwaukee, where he currently resides. He leads two adult writing roundtables for Redbird- Redoak Studios. His fiction and poetry has/ will appear in numerous magazines including Short, Fast & Deadly, 50 to 1, Heavy Bear, Girls with Insurance, Lesser Flamingo, Clutching at Straws, Thunderclap Press and Tryst. He is a fiction editor at jmww magazine, a flash fiction editor at Thunderclap! Press. His blog, One Writer’s Life, is at http://rgv7735.wordpress.com.
Eating a Strawberry by Jessica Otto
The strawberry is poison and it pops into your mouth as if by magic.
It is cold and sour. It pricks your tongue like a bee sting. You
chew as if a spider clawed its way across your jaw before stopping to
rest above your lower lip, you chew delicately.
Jessica Otto lives atop a piece of soggy marshland with her husband and many cats in Arkansas, when she is not writing she enjoys daydreaming about deep sea fishing (this is probably why she has so many nightmares).
The strawberry is poison and it pops into your mouth as if by magic.
It is cold and sour. It pricks your tongue like a bee sting. You
chew as if a spider clawed its way across your jaw before stopping to
rest above your lower lip, you chew delicately.
Jessica Otto lives atop a piece of soggy marshland with her husband and many cats in Arkansas, when she is not writing she enjoys daydreaming about deep sea fishing (this is probably why she has so many nightmares).