pages Micro-Fiction Archives

Netflix Thriller

Issue No. 277 ~ June, 2020

we watched free solo about the guy who climbed el capitan with no ropes always one finger grip away from death and as we sat glued to our computer screen for two hours without moving as the next american hero begins his ascent and remember …

Oregon Snow

Issue No. 274 ~ March, 2020

A truck with Oregon plates arrives in San Diego at dusk. When the driver slides open the cargo door, his Christmas trees are coated with lumps of snow and sheets of ice. There’s so much white he imagines an artificial forest smothered in flocking spray. …

The Dream Of A Nothing Special Kid

Issue No. 274 ~ March, 2020

Stuie’s always been nothing special. Even he knows, deep down, he is a consistently mediocre kid with straight Cs, not particularly handsome, and so-so in sports. In games, he eventually gets picked, but only after a long time, the kind of player where other kids …

Lines

Issue No. 271 ~ December, 2019

She was standing in line. The line had rounded the corner of the street. She didn’t actually see the beginning of the line, or where it led to exactly. She just ducked in line, right past the corner. It was the middle of the day. …

I’m home-schooled

Issue No. 271 ~ December, 2019

“It’s ok,” said the girl, setting her books on the counter. “I’m home-schooled.” The librarian would not have even considered the girl’s age at the time of day until the girl herself drew attention to it. But it couldn’t be denied. She was the only girl in …

Hollywood and Highland

Issue No. 270 ~ November, 2019

Sunny. It’s always sunny. Buskers sing, pitch their CDs. Vendors sell cut fruit, fragrant sausages and onions. John slumps in his wheel-chair, one foot on the sidewalk, the other shot off in Vietnam, then the leg amputated up to his knee. The subway empties. People …

On Your Drive to Dexter St.

Issue No. 269 ~ October, 2019

You Remember…   Grandpa Victor telling you that possibilities are like Poland.   That he said this because just like the realm of possibility has borders that shrink with age, he’d lived to see the borders of Poland be divided and divested, a broken wishbone …

Passages

Issue No. 268 ~ September, 2019

Openings lead to openings in darkness, miles below. They shovel ore into steel bins pulled to the surface and dumped, hour after hour, day after day. Clink clink go their mattocks and picks. No one knows the time. Years ago, many years ago it must …

Oh Rats

Issue No. 267 ~ August, 2019

1/ The animal: I am 10 or 11, and we have 2 pet rats: Ren and Stimpy. Both are large, soft, and white with butterscotch patches. Sweet, as I didn’t know rats could be. They like to perch on our shoulders like furry parrots, rushing …

The Bell

Issue No. 264 ~ May, 2019

Robert, the stalwart woodsman, fought desperately to fend off the monsters. Their strong bodies leaped at him over and over. As they came at him, his thoughts were of his love, Juniper, and the light that shone from her face.