100 Words or Less, Katy Comber

The Abandoning
By Katy Comber


Shea made it a sport: catching glimpses of winks in time. In one wink, her children dozed, safely tucked, under moonlit blankets. Shea peered in and froze in their doorway. She hoped for a pout, a yawn, a twitch of a foot. Leftover gestures from infancy. Something to combat this yearning to go. In this moment, she briefly allowed that bitter ache and missed those babies, those scrunched up miniature previews of elderly creatures. She snagged this wink like a firefly, cradled it softly with room to flutter around, nearly forgetting to breathe, then let it go, and walked away. 

100 Words or Less, Fred Feldman

The Dream

By Frederick W Feldman

His arms were around her. She hugged him tightly.

Wind chimes clinked softly. She was happy.

“Wake up, sweetie! Wake up.”

Elsie awoke to her mother leaning over from the passenger’s seat, gently shaking her. Elsie felt the car seat’s straps holding her. The road steadily jostling her.

“You were having a bad dream.”

Elsie blinked groggily. She felt tears sticking to her cheeks.

“Poor baby.”

Elsie looked out the window.

Her mother turned back around, whacked her hand on the clutch, and started yelling at it.

Her father drove silently.

All the happiest things were in dreams, Elsie sulked.

100 Words or Less, Joe Persch

Crazyby Joe Persch

“Are you crazy? This is WAY over the line. Even for us,” she said.

“Do you have a better idea?” he replied.

“Fine, but I still don’t like it.”

He was wandering through the town and he saw it. He looked a little paranoid. He came into the saloon, used his device to make a flash of light and sent the poor cat into a short fit. She was hiding in a dark corner. The man and cat conversed. The cat apologized. She jumped out and hit the man over the head with her staff. No turning back now.

100 Words or Less, Renee Cree

It’s Time

by Renee Cree

Ten seconds to go. Anticipation was in the air, as it always is on this most festive of holidays. Secretly, it had always been her favorite; the slate could be wiped clean, and when midnight came, new possibilities would abound. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1….

He wasn’t with her; he couldn’t be. But that was ok—duty called. Through the magic of technology, they could still celebrate together.  She picked up her phone and sent him a text: “Happy New Year! I love you!” 

“Same!” came the reply.

She regarded the phone. Set it down slowly. And sipped her champagne.

Future, Katy Comber

Letter
By Katy Comber

To the white haired
dandelion
standing tall
among fresh mown grass
and fallen brothers--
whose only thing left
is to let go,

I know you.

-K.

Future, Joe Persch

Future

By Joe Persch

Time. The fourth dimension. When you look at it from a linear perspective, it is composed of three parts: the past, the present, and the future. As three dimensional beings, we experience time in slices called moments. Each moment we experience comes with choices. These choices are usually simple: sleep an extra five minutes, go take a walk, catch a pokemon, write something for Affinity CoLab, etc.

If these moments were limited to our own existence and touched no other lives, they would be simple and unassuming choices. Even the larger ones. But the thing is, every choice we make impacts those around us. Even a simple choice can have far reaching consequences. If you decide to turn left at a stop sign instead of turning right, everything in the near future is set on a path by that simple decision. But that path isn’t set just by your decision. It’s also intersecting other decisions that have been made to put others on that same path. All decisions along the same path lead to future events.

So as a dimension, time can not be linear. Time is an amalgamation of choices and consequences, all coming together to create the future experiences we have. While it might seem that some of those choices are not far reaching, even the simple ones as exampled above reach far into the future. Every choice you make leads you to where you are right now. No matter how small the choice is or whether you remember making it, they’ve all come together to bring you to this point right now.

The future is always uncertain because, as I’ve stated, we live as three dimensional beings passing through the fourth dimension. The way we experience time is the way a 2 dimensional being would experience the third dimension: In thin slices as if looking at a piece of paper. There would be no depth to what they see, just slices of it as they passed.

The problem with trying to predict what can happen in the future is that all these choices create so many variables that no one can possibly take all of them into account. At least not without a fairly decent understanding of psychology and what causes people to think the way they do.

Even when we try to make the best decisions possible, it’s not always possible to see the consequences as the variables can end up being too many to count. It’s why people fear change. Change makes the future even more uncertain for them. Especially if they’re comfortable. For those not comfortable, change can bring hope, but also makes them wonder if things will get better or worse, so they fear the change as well.

But without change, nothing can possibly improve. Stagnation is far worse than change. Stagnation leads to apathy. Apathy leads laziness. And laziness leads to fading from existence. So, I urge everyone to get out there. Make a change. Do something you haven’t done before. The future is uncertain, but the more people out there making a decision and changing things, the more likely we are to move towards a better future.

Old Man and the Wishing Fountain, Katy Comber

The Dreamer

By Katy Comber

Bobby Sali made it. He had waited 70 years for this moment. Water surged and a flock of sweaty tourists unintentionally pushed the elderly man aside as they stared down at the filter options on their smart phones and he stood, transfixed, before the magnificent Trevi fountain. This, this was where Bobby Sali would find her--his first love.

Joy, Lily Newcomb

Chipping Sparrow

Photo by Lily Newcomb

Joy, Ronna Fretz

Joy

Photo by Ronna Fretz

Family, Genevieve Barker

"Family of Imperfect Pears"

11 x 14" 
Original Graphite and Colored Pencil Drawing

by Genevieve Barker 

For purchasing information and additional works by this artist, visit Barking Dog Studios.

Razor Sharp Teeth and Fireworks, Katy Comber

The Tide

By Katy Comber

Steam rose off rooftops, pitch black and hot, in waves as a brief shower poured over the beach town of Gordon. By mid-afternoon, the rain had lifted a heavy curtain of humidity but the sun remained radiant and burning. A family, laughing and rolling a wagon packed high with chairs and buckets, passed by a row of pastel houses perched on stilts, quiet, beautiful, observing. As the family walked up to the nearly deserted shore, local televisions and radios were tuned into an emergency alert. MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCES ALONG GORDON SHORE LINES.

Shea strolled up to a band of chairs and umbrellas set out beyond the high dunes still shaking her head in annoyance. Those two men hollering down at her, “Hey! Hey! Where you goin’?” from their screened in porch reminded her of the same jerks she had to pass on her way into work. Even on vacation. Shea shook her head again and a long blonde curl loosened from its high bun and tumbled over Shea’s wide hazel eyes. The tall grass swayed behind her as a sweet breeze swept through an otherwise sweltering day.

Where is everyone? Shea’s loved ones seemed to be among an otherwise sparse population along the beach that afternoon. They lounged in deep conversation with one another or with characters acting various scenarios under their noses on sand dusted pages. The children giggled and splashed in the waves with their dad. Daughter’s face beamed as the water kicked up and licked her sun-kissed face. Her brother had silent focus, a stoic hunter of waves, as he leaned in on his new board. Husband watched like a lion over his pride.