Phil in Academia

by David M Wallace

Phil was a Cub Scout. Then a Boy Scout. Track and Field. Debate Club.

He breezed through undergrad English. Masters thesis on Restoration Literature. PhD dissertation on Samuel Pepys.

As a professor, he bedded sophomores. When that was still a thing. Even married one. Divorced. She got both girls and the house.

Phil drank too much. Retired early. Never finished that novel. Seldom saw his kids.

Maybe things would have been different if he’d thought to talk with the fat girl who sat behind him in 7th Grade. Whose name he never knew.

Maybe he’d have learned something.

The Missiles

by River Davis

No one knows where they come from and how they choose their targets. “They’re just a fact of life,” the adults would say.

If a missile hits someone important, you’d hear about it on the news. Otherwise, it comes up in a church group or at a potluck. “What a shame,” people would murmur.

Every now and then, they come a little too close for comfort. A best friend’s dad. Your parent’s dog. An old coworker.

Then, silence. It could be years between missiles. Life is good, you are invincible.

Then one lands next door and shakes your whole world.

Domesticity

by Jasmine Beth

I was falling asleep on the bed with the baby in my lap when my husband walked in.

“Hey!” he said.

I jolted. So did the baby.

“She looks wide awake. You should take her for a walk.”

“You should come with us. It’s the weekend. I’ve hardly seen you all week. We should do something fun together.”

“All right. Let’s go now then. The sun’s going down.”

He walked out.

“Actually, there’s too much to do here,” he yelled from the lounge room. “I’m going to vacuum.”

I closed my eyes. The baby started to cry. The vacuum whirred.

Numbers

by Sandra Plourde

80 – “Good one! Keep it up, buddy! You are doing it right!”

195 – “You are doing this all wrong! You need to be on top of it. No dessert for you tonight.”

52 – “How are you feeling, Darling? Drink some more. You need to be careful. This can be dangerous. You could die!”

330 – “This is unacceptable. You cannot keep doing this. Think of the long-term repercussions. You will pay the price later in life. You could lose your toes, or worse. Try harder!”

Tom, eight years old, diabetic, stares at the floor, wishes he was someone else.