Stories

Published: Oct 01, 2020

Playing Tapper

featuring: Cara Jean-Jones

The game finished with another spilled mug of root beer. She picked up her can of beer and downed a long gulp. Cara wiped her brow and tucked a bit of hair ...

Published: Sep 30, 2020

A Night at the Arcade

featuring: Michael Talerio

"Hey Cara," he said. She was perched on a bar stool in front of a custom video game cabinet, swaying as she worked the controls. "Hey, aren't you Cara?" She was focused ...

Published: Sep 29, 2020

Betting Man

featuring: Michael Talerio

Michael liked to play the stock market. He bought and sold stocks like they were baseball cards, snapping up a hot item and flushing out old news. He consistently lost money, because ...

Published: Sep 27, 2020

Summer Sprinkler

featuring: Michael Talerio

Every morning he walked the dog, named Buck. This was not his dog but the one from the downstairs neighbor. When the neighbor was away on business, which was frequently, Michael took ...

Published: Sep 26, 2020

Caro-Kann

featuring: Daniel Wilmar

Daniel sat at the board waiting for his opponent. It was the final game of the day and he was playing black. His record would say he was better with the white ...

Published: Sep 25, 2020

Younger Days

featuring: Wilma Illya

When she was younger, she stayed out all hours with Gretchen. They were best of friends for nearly their entire lives because they grew up in a couple of two flats next ...

Published: Sep 24, 2020

Filling Time

featuring: Robert Smith

Robert was not sure how he should fill the time now that he was retired. Retired? Was that him now?  He did not like the sound of that. He began filling his ...

Published: Sep 23, 2020

Renaming the Shop

featuring: Robert Smith

It had been named Smith Jewelry Company and Robert liked it that way, but he was nearly out of money. The sign being installed read Chicago Jewelry Row and it felt like ...

Published: Sep 22, 2020

Reading the Newspaper

featuring: Robert Smith

He sat on a bench near a busy intersection, across from the park. The sun bathed his skin as he read the newspaper. His pants did not reach his shined black leather ...

Published: Sep 19, 2020

The Barge

featuring: Kean Rippel

They lived in a strange house, covered in vines, made of stone, perched near the edge of a small cliff, overlooking the Mississippi River. When it rained, Kean feared the cliff would ...