A swing on a chain: a Jack and a Jane. See a chain swing is swinging: see Jack pushing, Jane pulling. Feel Jane’s hands on a chain; Jack’s hands are on Jane. Hear Jane’s breath a refrain to Jack huffing in strain. Smell sweat and black rubber: taste salt and rain A swing, a thing, a chain and a Jane, a Jack and a snap! They tumble flat back, buck naked and sore, their bedroom floor. Laughing—a snapped chain: lovers still, Jack and his Jane. T.L. Tomljanovic is a flash fiction

“Beating the Trojans was easier than planning for this crazy Christmas shopping excursion,” mused Eustis out loud, to his fellow Spartans. The week before, the six in the vehicle had a lot to celebrate. The Spartans of Michigan State University prevailed over the University of Southern California Trojans in the Big Ten Championship. Now three of his teammates from the football team, along with two other athletes from MSU, decided to head down from East Lansing to Detroit to

Melinda screamed, hot, forceful breath scraping her teeth. She was doing what she was supposed to, that’s how aggrieved mothers behaved. “You want your baby to die, asshole?!” The voice on the other end of the call was deep, distorted–a deadbeat Darth Vader. Offended, Melinda wanted to scold Scott for taking things too far, his inclusion of “asshole,” but much like her screaming, there was a protocol to follow; he was just doing his part. A “fuck” would most certainly be co

Aurelia was explaining problem sets to three undergraduates who sat in the Teaching Assistants’ office. It was the same three who’d come before the last quiz. Their scores had improved by an average of five points each, and they had returned, hoping to continue the trend. “So in a Boolean model, this would be ...” Aurelia began. “True!” they cried. “Yes!” Aurelia was energized by their responsiveness. Not only were they listening to her, but they were processing what she

We are waiting for our flight. We are a group of four (the Beatles but worse): Alan, Susie, Paul, me. We are playing eye-spy and two-truths-one-lie and all manner of exciting games. We are attempting handstands. We are still waiting for our flight. We are researching the history and etymology of goldfish on Wikipedia. We are eating all our food, a royal buffet of sandwiches and apples and salted almonds. We are talking to an old lady—she is going to Malta to spread her hus

This story was originally published by Free Spirit “Speak of the Devil” Anthology. The casting director guided the girl with glasses in...

I. Sunday morning, my elderly father murmuring into a bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon, a brand of beer he especially hated, though he wasn’t...

Congratulations on the purchase of your Red Shooz! In your email, you said you’d been seeking a socioeconomic boost from lack to luxury,...

Reviews are actual. Story is fictitious. * 1 star we all basically had to get drunk so we could make it through the night When the...

At the time, it seemed like a great idea and really cheap when you work out interest rates on a brand new partner every 325 Earth days,...

Il Trucchetto ⭐⭐⭐ Italian * $$ First time guests at Il Trucchetto could be forgiven for passing right by the restaurant without even...

One morning I noticed something strange about my girlfriend. She put sugar in her coffee. As far as I remembered, she liked her coffee...

Emma had been moving in since we started dating six months ago, one little object at a time—a chartreuse toothbrush sprouting out of the...

Remember Charlie Bischman? Ponytail science geek, used to watch us from the bleachers? Well, Stacie, guess who drunk-dialed me in August?...

“You’re everything that’s wrong with this country, do you know that?” “Me? I’m sorry sweetheart, I thought that was your side.”...

Good morning, you’re through to RoboHub Technical Support. You’re speaking to Anil today. Can I start by taking the serial number? It’ll...

Someone, please help me get these Taylor Swift songs out of my head. It’s not my fault, it’s my tween, Hailey. She plays the pop...

One day the sky turned red and the public blamed it on the new Secretary of State for the Heavens. On the contrary, said the Secretary of...

Hi everyone, my name is none of your business and I’m a TED Talk hater. Watching TED Talks started out as a distraction. Something...

Me: Aren’t you supposed to be writing? Me: How can I write when you keep pinging me??? Me: So it’s MY fault? Me: It’s ALWAYS your fault....