Yearly Archives: 2025

Read more about the article 16 Ways to Kill Your Managers (Metaphorically, Mostly)
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16 Ways to Kill Your Managers (Metaphorically, Mostly)

Maggie carried herself like the model professional—pressed blazer, polished nod, expression set to neutral. Her pen sketched blood. On the legal pad half hidden by her keyboard tray, she wrote in small script, Sixteen Ways to Kill Your Managers. Number one: staple gun to jugular. Efficient. No mess. No evidence trail.Number two: office chair ejector seat, fifth-floor window. Add parachute? Optional. Ken’s voice cut across the room, booming through his story. Maggie angled her ear, catching the punchline just in…

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December 13, 2025
Read more about the article The Dogs Approved This Message
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The Dogs Approved This Message

My dogs turn in smug unison when the door clicks shut on the guy they can’t stand. The collie lifts his chin like he just won a courtroom case; the golden narrows her eyes with the glow of someone who escaped a family Zoom call. “Don’t gloat.” I nudge the collie’s rump with my foot, and he absorbs the tap like a weighted pillow with opinions.    A chuckle drifts from the kitchen, warm as the overhead light pooling against…

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December 1, 2025
Read more about the article Where the Trail Ends: The Survival Camp Rescue
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Where the Trail Ends: The Survival Camp Rescue

Three months after Kara’s last text—I found the answer—I parked at the Summit Creek trailhead. I’d torn through her left-behinds for a clue—found only a Post-it written on the run: Summit > South Spur > Ridge. I killed the engine. The trail, a half-swallowed scar, pulled me in. Devil’s club towered sky-high. Bear scat gleamed. A single bird called out—one long, metallic whistle that pierced the trees and died. I kept moving—not because I believed Kara had found the answer,…

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October 1, 2025
Read more about the article One Room and a Matchbook
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One Room and a Matchbook

I didn’t get the house. Not the Lexus, the lake lot, the gilded dental practice or the damn espresso machine I bought him the year he started molar sculpting. I got a one-room cabin. Ninety miles south of Anchorage. No plumbing. A stove that belches smoke. A roof that drips snowmelt onto my bed. Daniel handed it over like a favor. Like a pat on the head for staying quiet. Like I wouldn’t notice he kept everything else. He tossed…

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August 13, 2025
Read more about the article Not Since the Bear
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Not Since the Bear

I hadn’t returned to the cabin—not since the bear. Now, alder branches clawed at my sleeves as I climbed the ridge, snagging like they meant to stop me. The wind rattled through spruce needles, brittle with rime. Snow fell in hard, wind-blown flurries that needled my neck. The brush closed behind me, a trapdoor slamming shut—no path back, only forward. Cold chewed through my jacket and sank deep. Late May on the Kenai Peninsula never pretended to be spring. I…

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August 11, 2025
Read more about the article The Secrets They Whisper
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The Secrets They Whisper

I catch the flinch in your eyes.Do you think I chose to live like this?I once owned a bed, a sofa, and a kitchen table.Hope sat beside me in the mornings, warm in the steam of my coffee.My hands held dreams.My hands cradled children.Then, the ground crumbled under me. If you see a woman huddled on the street, take another look.I see a survivor.A woman who raised herself from the wreckage—and walked.My scars tell stories of love lost and nights…

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August 9, 2025
Read more about the article Uncharted
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Blog / Blog for Short Fiction Page / Short Fiction

Uncharted

Lost in the woods. Tracked by danger. A choice she can't outrun.  When I’d started the hike, solitude had felt like a gift—space to breathe, to let the silence scour away the months of second-guessing and what-ifs. Time to decide what comes next. Now, as stingy sunlight bled away, unease pooled under my ribs, spreading with every breath.     Massive storm clouds, bellies swollen with rain, crouched over the mountains. The wind bared its teeth, snapping through my jacket. …

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July 7, 2025
Read more about the article Truths That Might Crack Your Quiet
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Truths That Might Crack Your Quiet

When you spotted me, your face slammed shut. Judgment flashed from your eyes—quick as breath, but I caught it. Then you sped up. Were you afraid I might reach for you? When you laid eyes on me, who did you see? A woman hunched against brick, wrapped in layers? Look again. I see a survivor. A woman who raised herself from wreckage and kept walking. My scars tell stories of nights survived, of battles fought with nothing but breath. Do…

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May 21, 2025
Read more about the article Outwitting the Killer
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Outwitting the Killer

He sat beside me during the interview, his fingers tightening on my shoulder each time I spoke, like reins jerking a horse’s head. When the detective’s gaze landed on him, his voice softened, his head turned reverent—holier than the collar he wore. The second she stepped out, his eyes found mine and held them hostage. I didn’t blink. Didn’t shift. Just counted the seconds until I could breathe again. Now, only a handful of mourners lingered near the grave. Damp…

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April 19, 2025
Read more about the article Build Your Writing Career and Platform with Snap, Dash and Flash
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Build Your Writing Career and Platform with Snap, Dash and Flash

When I fell in love with flash fiction, seduced by the six-word story attributed to Hemingway: “For sale: baby, shoes, never worn,” I never dreamed flash would love me back. Here’s what makes flash FLASH Flashes deliver endings that twist or transform, leaving readers haunted by the story’s afterimages.  They’re short, forcing the writer to toss wasted words. Learning to write a complete story in one to two pages forces you to dive straight into the story and the action.…

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March 24, 2025