Flash Frog
Small. Brightly colored. Deadly to the touch.
Category: Uncategorized
Late for the UFO by Natalie Wallington
I overslept and made the kids late for the UFO. Only after jolting awake did I remember you kissing my cheek as you left for work, saying Don’t forget! And my reply: I won’t, darling. Not that I knew who you were in that… Continue Reading “Late for the UFO by Natalie Wallington”
Astyanax by Hannah Zhang
We heard he was dropped from a tower when he was a baby. As a prop, of course, in a tragedy. Somebody was there to catch him and take him backstage, so it really wasn’t all that bad, but the production closed a month… Continue Reading “Astyanax by Hannah Zhang”
My Wife Wanted a Ghost by Elizabeth Rosen
My wife wanted a ghost, so I became one. At night, when her fingertips tick deep in dreaming, I pull the blankets slowly, deliberately out from the bottom of the bed and uncover her sleeping body until the strangeness startles her awake and she… Continue Reading “My Wife Wanted a Ghost by Elizabeth Rosen”
Show and Tell by Claudia Monpere
Only three minutes to peer through windows of our former homes. Only four minutes to enter and grab something precious. But we’re ready, we folks who have died/passed away/expired/kicked the bucket. (We ghosts have strong opinions about how we refer to our end. On… Continue Reading “Show and Tell by Claudia Monpere”
For us guests of the first Academy Awards at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel by Louise Hurrell
the party’s been going since May 1929; we’ve chugged so much champagne it’s a miracle we’re still on our feet. We’re over a hundred years old, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still jive, our phantom limbs swaying in the air like cigar smoke.… Continue Reading “For us guests of the first Academy Awards at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel by Louise Hurrell”
Prom Queen in a Podunk Town by Mina Thorsen
No one was surprised that I won. I was the prettiest girl in our little oil town and my daddy could afford to take me to get my highlights done in the city. I knew the natural order of things. Momma always kept her… Continue Reading “Prom Queen in a Podunk Town by Mina Thorsen”
Adultery #3 (fall) by Christopher Locke
A hemorrhage of maple trees blots the horizon. Everywhere, sunlight sweet-talks the edges of things: the purple wheels of aster, a gutted shopping cart. You embrace her in the covered bridge. Underneath, a river charts history sluicing boulder and bank, airless pebbles, a honeyed… Continue Reading “Adultery #3 (fall) by Christopher Locke”
Your Mouth a Tether by DC Restaino
You latch on hard, quick, for your nightly feeding. P tries to distract me while he brushes his teeth. Pokes fun at my dramatics. “Finally putting that theatre degree to use,” he says as he creases the rags used to mop up my leaking… Continue Reading “Your Mouth a Tether by DC Restaino”
Nevada by Evan Fleischer
Cacti growing in the bowling alley. Honky-tonk playing on a PA system that’s so weak it sounds like the music is coming from some distant shore. All this set amongst sunshine of drifting dust. A man reads a book by Tom Robbins behind the… Continue Reading “Nevada by Evan Fleischer”
Watch Me Close by Alex Juffer
There’s a very small woman who lives in my ductwork. I’ve seen her bright pinprick eyes between the vent panels tracking me as I do Youtube yoga in my living room. I pretend I don’t see her. For her sake, or mine. I can’t… Continue Reading “Watch Me Close by Alex Juffer”