Flash Frog
Small. Brightly colored. Deadly to the touch.
Category: Uncategorized
Dog People by Abbie Barker
The evening the neighborhood dogs rebelled, gnawing through fences and tethers, we deserted our wine glasses on back patios and bolted inside. We left rakes, lawnmowers, idle in the grass. We grabbed blunt objects and shivered near windows. We were dog people, all of… Continue Reading “Dog People by Abbie Barker”
Honeybud by Melissa Ragsly
Sandy walks down the curved stairs that Luther designed to mimic the shape of a woman’s hip, while I pad around the landing to find a good perch. I try to stay silent, but I can’t stop humming the music coming from the surround… Continue Reading “Honeybud by Melissa Ragsly”
Our Nudist Neighbors are Fighting by Joshua Jones Lofflin
The Marions are at it in their front yard again. This is normal. Except usually it’s warmer, like in the springtime after they’ve spent all day planting annuals—splashes of impatiens and pansies—and Mr. Marion’s award-winning tomatoes. A day of bending and swaying flesh. My… Continue Reading “Our Nudist Neighbors are Fighting by Joshua Jones Lofflin”
Pattern by Meg Pokrass
“It’s a trick of the light, honey,” her stepfather said, meaning it’s not like a whale is about to surface. One hand on her arm so he wouldn’t topple, they were standing there on the side of the boat, hoping to see bubbles, knowing… Continue Reading “Pattern by Meg Pokrass”
Who Do You Think It Is If It Isn’t Me? by Rory Say
Is the back seat of a car an ideal place for introductions? Roslin wonders this as she watches the woman whose name escapes her shut the door of a narrow townhouse and rush down the front steps. She can feel her father’s eyes trying… Continue Reading “Who Do You Think It Is If It Isn’t Me? by Rory Say”
We Americans by Reema Rao-Patel
When we are born, you whisper into our purple ears: you are American. The three of us, each six months apart, raised by sister-mothers who’ll never be accepted as American even though you take a test that says you are. But you will never… Continue Reading “We Americans by Reema Rao-Patel”
No Dead Bodies in the Dining Room by Kathryn LeMon
*THE BLUE FROG 1st PLACE WINNER* Introduction by Guest Judge AIMEE BENDER: Last year I was so taken by Elisa Gabbert’s close reading of Auden’s poem “Musee des Beaux Arts” and how she considered the ways that dailiness and tragedy live in the same moment in… Continue Reading “No Dead Bodies in the Dining Room by Kathryn LeMon”
The Whale Bone Man by Kaylie Saidin
*THE BLUE FROG 2nd PLACE WINNER* The kids are playing by the creek when the whale bone man appears out of the thicket of wooded trees. On this day the fog is hanging so low and so thick it seems they are surrounded by… Continue Reading “The Whale Bone Man by Kaylie Saidin”
Patagium by K.C. Mead-Brewer
*THE BLUE FROG 3rd PLACE WINNER* Sidney stands naked and eleven before her bedroom mirror, her white arms held out in a crucified fashion. She imagines the skin of her underarms stretched down to attach to the skin of her legs. She wonders if… Continue Reading “Patagium by K.C. Mead-Brewer”
Oxidation by Tommy Dean
They said we couldn’t hold a birthday party at the bottom of the ocean. That there were laws against such things. That the costs were too much for the fish, for the city, for the coast guard, who grudgingly admitted that they would have… Continue Reading “Oxidation by Tommy Dean”