Flash Frog
Small. Brightly colored. Deadly to the touch.
Category: Uncategorized
Pickle Juice by Kelly Pedro
When the water comes, it seeps through the windows. Dad says that’s because the windows are wood and rotten, just like Mom’s teeth, just like her breath that always smells like pickle juice and Mom hollers that if Dad keeps insulting her, she’ll turn… Continue Reading “Pickle Juice by Kelly Pedro”
Lone Shooter by Sage Tyrtle
At the playground, a five-year-old boy levels an invisible rifle at my nursing baby. He’s standing on a rope bridge between the slide and the monkey bars, and he sights like we are a doe and her fawn. Dizzy with rage, I stand up… Continue Reading “Lone Shooter by Sage Tyrtle”
Leaving by Wasima Khan
*THE BLUE FROG 1st PLACE WINNER* Introduction by Guest Judge Dr. CAMILLE U. ADAMS Leaving opens with one of the longest sentences in this beautiful flash piece that otherwise makes use of clauses that are punchy, concise, informational, and brief. This first sentence contains… Continue Reading “Leaving by Wasima Khan”
Doesn’t That Sound Great, Mary Beth? by Jessica Klimesh
*THE BLUE FROG 2nd PLACE WINNER* The first lie Mary Beth told her boyfriend was that she wanted kids. She heard it come out of her mouth in a voice disconnected from her brain, an auto-pilot answer, like when you’re at a store and… Continue Reading “Doesn’t That Sound Great, Mary Beth? by Jessica Klimesh”
Lies I Tell My Children (#17) by Ruth Joffre
*THE BLUE FROG 3rd PLACE WINNER* If they ask me for a little brother or sister to play with, I’ll tell them all about the egg I’ve been incubating in the attic: the size of it, the slick red surface of its shell, as… Continue Reading “Lies I Tell My Children (#17) by Ruth Joffre”
River Keeps by Cathy Ulrich
What is lost in the river is all the things thrown or dropped or tossed: keys and beer bottles and a silver-plated bracelet with a clasp that came undone and someone’s bag they didn’t want, a plastic bag filled with mewling things, and here… Continue Reading “River Keeps by Cathy Ulrich”
Angela, in the basement by Kelly McElroy
The first time my mother takes my oldest sister down into the embalming room, I am hidden away upstairs, staring at my ceiling. My sister has just returned home from getting her degree in mortuary science, so she has a depth of understanding about… Continue Reading “Angela, in the basement by Kelly McElroy”
No Noise is as Heart-Wrenching as the Noise of a Wolf Howling by Jennifer Todhunter
Our friends owned a cabin five hours from the closest gas station, seven hours if the forest service road was closed, and there was a group of us who’d drive up every year after the kids got out of school, skipping the Last Day… Continue Reading “No Noise is as Heart-Wrenching as the Noise of a Wolf Howling by Jennifer Todhunter”
American Boy by Claire Y. Guo
American Boy teaches me all the ways to say home run. Big Fly. Homer. Dinger. Grand Salami. When he isn’t looking, I anoint each word with their Chinese translations, imagining they are caterpillars morphed into cocoon, too early or damaged to be exchanged for… Continue Reading “American Boy by Claire Y. Guo”
Sharing a super-single-dorm-bed after the club by Kinjal Johri
Tomorrow we will attend the belated funerals of our youth in dress pants and collared blouses. We will give our apologies for the loss and sit in stifling silence and then go home and tell our partners of the people we caught up with,… Continue Reading “Sharing a super-single-dorm-bed after the club by Kinjal Johri”