Issue 4, Summer 2021 Flash Nonfiction
Blinding | Ali Bryan
Gather the children. The leggy girl, eight and full of promise. The freckled and fat-footed boy in the Ninja Turtles trunks. The slippery baby with the coppery hair and a penchant for breastfeeding.
Guide them across the pool deck avoiding the snapped goggles and wet Band-Aids and Crocked lifeguards. The towels in lumps against the wall. The moms that don’t swim. Adjust your sagging suit.
Stop outside the steam room and study the sign. Note the shapeless seniors hunched and parked like stuffed animals behind the foggy glass door. Wonder if there’s room for your small army to join their séance. To melt away.
Into the Stratosphere | Ken Szymanski
Call me foolish, but I’m pulling up to Flynn Elementary School on a windy Sunday in March with two sons, two kites, and a dog. We’ve come in search of wide-open space and great gusts of wind and compared to the valley down below where we live, this place feels like Mount Olympus. Spring days like this—with 30-40 mph gales—are rare, and up here on the hill the kites should take flight with ease.
Other Good Stuff…
