The Gorge

by Lisa Lahey

When Amos found me, I looked like a wet bundle of rags lying at the bottom of the gorge. My long, brown hair was tangled across my chalk white skin and my glassy brown eyes stared at the clouds, seeing nothing. My legs were splayed in an obscene pose. I’d been thrown into the gorge, not placed there. My long, heavy skirts wrapped around my waist leaving nothing to the imagination. If I wasn’t dead, I’d die of embarrassment.

6S

Lisa Lahey's work has appeared in magazines such as 34th Parallel, Spadina Literary Review, and others.

Unpacking My Heart

by Brigitta Scheib

Every morning before preschool, her hair in braids, silvery eyes wet and lip quivering, I would kiss inside her tiny hand just to get her out the door. Her favorite storybook said pressing this comforting kiss to her cheek would keep me close all day. Thirteen years later, driving over highways, smooth and rough, we arrive at an antiseptic dorm at a university. I unbox cargo and unpack her. There are no soothing pecks to anyone’s palm. When it’s time for me to leave, she flops on the twin bed, her platinum hair fanning around her, and waves, “Bye, Mom.”

6S

Brigitta Scheib lives in Harrisburg, PA with her husband, daughter and three orange cats. She enjoys writing different genres but prefers brevity-flash and micro stories.

The Invasion

by Fred D. White

“Take me to your leader!” It pointed a weapon at my head. I said "Sure, no problem," and we drove to the White House. Once the panicked guards cleared the way for us, we headed to the Oval. It high-fived the President with its scaly hand and said, “Great job setting everything up, big guy! I’ll take over from here.”

6S

Fred D. White's fiction and humor have appeared in Bright Flash Literary Review, Chortle, Fictive Dream, The Nonconformist, The Thieving Magpie, and Drunk Monkeys. He lives in Folsom, CA.