Tiny Smuggler – by N.E. Rule

“You’ve already searched me and found nothing,” Sam says.

Split – by Jay McKenzie

She looks beyond the fire to the flat surface of the lake. There is little in the way of moon and stars tonight, but lights from the lodge on the opposite shore glimmer on the water’s skin. In her eyes, the dancing amber flames ripple.

Ditchmoss – by Andrew Shaughnessy

On the day in question, the four seniors, packing cellophane bags of caramel corn, presented themselves at the circus tent early to take their seats in the back row of the floor section adjacent to the centre ring. A family of four was in the front row, trying to settle twin four-year-old boys each seized with fear at being so close to the action. Hank studied the scene as if this were one of the circus acts.

Weary Willie – by Bethany Bruno

The band leader saw the flame first, signaling his musicians to begin playing “Stars and Stripes Forever,” or what circus folk used in code for “emergency.”

Fair Field Gate – by Eric Janzen

Yet afterwards he seemed to slip away as though the world had become too much for him. How could she have left him there?

The Dawn Chorus – by Julia Dale Pollard

I’ve been her helper for thirty-some odd years now and in that time, I’ve gotten to know all her likes and dislikes. Her quirks and eccentricities. Every day it’s the same thing. She gets up at the crack of dawn, I bring her some toast and a cup of hot tea. The toast has to […]

Where Liam Sleeps Tonight – by Lori Green

I hold the envelope in my hands, the pressure in my chest building, threatening to engulf me. I know Natalie would have wrestled with sending it, not wanting to hurt me, but ultimately deciding she didn’t want to risk excluding me.

Then the Healing Began – by Eric Janzen

Jeremy’s shoulders rose and fell as he let out a quiet groan. He stared at the red dot on his phone. “Damn messages,” he said. He tapped the icon and listened. “Hey, Jer! Camron here…again. Listen, I’ve got an extra ticket for a concert tonight. You are coming. It’s a new band, Nouveau Coeur. Everything’s […]

My Mother’s Ladder – By Finnian Burnett

My mother is building a ladder. She says she needs to change the bulb in the hallway, the one she has asked my father to change only a dozen times. I stand in the doorway of the garage and listen to her banging and swearing, the thundering bellow of her voice shaking the doorframe.

The Night Nanny – By Brianne Sommerville

Amelia thought Lola resembled a pig in a blanket, swaddled tightly and nestled in the crux of her arm. Perhaps the appetizer came to mind because she was hungry after nursing her baby.