Sisyphus Ascending, by Scott Cravens

​

From a distant land Sisyphus, in a mass exodus with his people, set out looking for a new land to call his home. The young king was in utter despair, for he was unable to find the place for his city’s foundation.

​

Scott Cravens is a short story writer from Arkansas, and is based in Oklahoma where he teaches literature at the secondary level. Currently, he is pursuing his Master of Writing at Johns Hopkins University.

​

Mr. Cuddlekins' Fortune, by Andrew Rucker Jones

​

It was midnight: time for a mysterious visitor.

No sooner had Scott typed the words than there was a knock at his apartment door.

​

Andrew Rucker Jones is a former IT expert and American expatriate living in Germany with his Georgian wife and their three children. He quit his day job to become an author, and he has yet to regret it. You can read his blog at http://selfdefeatistnavelgazing.wordpress.com/.

​

A Banshee's Cry, by Claire Davon

​

"I won’t howl for them. I won’t!"

Darcy pulled her sister’s hands away from her mouth and glared at her.

​

Claire Davon has written on and off for most of her life, starting with fan fiction when she was very young. She writes across a wide range of genres, and does not consider any of it off limits. Her novels can be found in the paranormal romance and contemporary romance sections, while her short stories run the gamut. If a story calls to her, she will write it. She currently lives in Los Angeles and spends her free time writing novels and short stories, as well as doing animal rescue and enjoying the sunshine.

 

You can find more of her work at the links below:

Website: www.clairedavon.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClaireDavonindieauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ClaireDavon

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/bibimarlowe/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clairedavon/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7915840.Claire_Davon

Amazon Author Central: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00IMP2KSU

Claire’s Reader Group (Claire’s Reader Muses): https://www.facebook.com/groups/388481941792498/

​

Ariadne Goes to Knitting Group, by Katherine Quevedo

​

For the first time in what feels so long,

Ariadne goes to knitting group.

But something about her yarn seems wrong,

for every time she completes a loop,

the string turns from gold to crimson and black!

​

Katherine Quevedo was born and raised just outside of Portland, Oregon, where she works as an analyst and lives with her husband and two sons. Her poetry has appeared in Coffin Bell, NonBinary Review, Honeyguide Literary Magazine, Songs of Eretz, Sidequest, and elsewhere, and she received an honorable mention in the 2020 Helen Schaible International Sonnet Contest. Find her at www.katherinequevedo.com.

​

The Long Way Home, by Mike Neis

​

"My uncle is asking for last rites. He's dying."
"Is he a member of the parish?"
"I don't know. But he used to come to this church when he was younger."

​

Mike Neis' work has appeared in Amethyst Review, Spank the Carp, and elsewhere. More of his stories will be coming soon to The Stray Branch and The Oddville Press. When he is not disturbing the innocent with misfit non sequiturs that do not belong in any known culture, he works as a technical writer for a commercial laboratory, participates in church music, and teaches English as a second language. He lives in Orange County, California with his family.

​

The Chains, by Sarah Hozumi

​

Sayaka was two days’ shy of her 30th birthday when her husband died while on his way home from work. They had been married for about five years and had only just finished fighting about whether to have children.

​

About Sarah Hozumi: I am a translator and rewriter who has lived near Tokyo for about 12 years. Along with having a fantastic time learning Japanese, I also love travel around Japan and abroad. I love photography, and I have an active account on Viewbug. To see other short stories I’ve had the honor of having published, and to read my blog mostly about all things Japan, plus photos of Japan I’ve taken, please visit https://www.sarahhozumi.com. You can also find my author’s page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahjhozumi.

​

I Smoke Too Much, by Dee Caples

​

Even immortal gatherings after a departure are comprised of guests holding plates of delicacies and vying for the too-few seats. Ops makes an unfortunate choice when she perches on an antique three-legged stool and breaks it to pieces

​

Dee Caples is a fantasy and horror writer. She has appeared in both volumes of Nothing Ever Happens In Fox Hollow and was published for the first time in print by Esskaye Books with her short story Brothers. She has a writer page on Facebook, Dee Caples, Writer but is also proud of her other group, Their Own Little World, a place for advice and commiseration for dementia caregivers.

​

Mongrel, Or Little Red and the Roman, by J. Alex Edwards

​

This is not a fairy tale.
It begins on their third day north of the Picts’ Wall. With a maimed body on a riverbank..

​

J. Alex Edwards is a brand-new writer. He lives in London. His day job as an NHS junior doctor often leaves little time for writing, however he definitely feels the bite of the bug. Watch this space! For writing-related queries, contact him at: ja3dwards@gmail.com

​

Old Man Monkey King Finds His Laugh Once More, by Daniel R. Robichaud

​

Sun Wukong was old when the Song Dynasty shrieked birth pangs. Even then he knew a thing or two about how best to woo pretty lovers, how best to sing uproarious songs, and how best to handle tyrants. 

​

Daniel R. Robichaud lives and writes in Humble, Texas. His fiction has been collected in Hauntings & Happenstances and Gathered Flowers, Stones, and Bones. He writes weekly reviews of film and fiction at the Considering Stories website: https://consideringstories.wordpress.com/

Keep up with him on Twitter, https://www.twitter.com/DarkTowhead, and on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/daniel.r.robichaud.

​

Yithna, by W. H. McGillvray

​

In a time long forgotten by mortal memory, a tribe waited to die. Hunger knew each of their names and Winter stalked them between the fading trees.

​

W.H. McGillivray is a traditionally trained animator, fiction writer and carer for disabled family. Winter has written stories and screenplays for twenty years, with a focus on horror, sci-fi and fantasy. Hailing from the wild and abandoned outskirts of Glasgow in Scotland, Winter is editing a new novel and a new screenplay at the same time, so is clearly a glutton for punishment.

 

W.H. McGillivray can be found on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Eprosis

​

FROM THE PERIODICAL, FORLORN ARCHIVES

​

The Green Man, by Danger Callahan

​

LIttle Pickering was in western Massachusetts, but walk down the cobbled main street, past stony cottages with white-picket rimmed yards all overflowing with sweet-smelling tea roses, and you’d think you were in sleepy old England.

​

Nothing in the Dark, an excerpt from The Genesis Chronicles: Excerpts from The Periodical, Forlorn

​

In the tangled mass of poplar boughs, a raven lets loose a raucous caw-caw-caw. The wind carries the reverberations of the bird’s dismal shriek across the rolling hills and out to the thin, dark line of the horizon.