Chuck entered the car in a hurry and drove off, tires screeching. His wife, Hallie, was in surgery and he promised to be there when she awakened. He sipped his Starbucks coffee and wondered when the traffic would let up, cursing and punching the steering wheel.

Chuck would be at the hospital, but not for Hallie.

From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher

There are always more volunteers than available spots on the firing squad. But the really terrible part isn’t how cold it is out. It’s how much I tremble. The I Ching advises, “Wait in the meadow,” meaning caring for a cow will bring luck. I can remember a time when everyone wasn’t in such a hurry to fuck off to somewhere. Now, whatever phone number I punch in, the suicide hotline picks up. I think about mentioning this to someone. And then I get distracted by the wind and the rain and the loud kissing noises they seem to make.

From Guest Contributor Howie Good

As a child, Jaime loved the subway. No car seats. Strange people. Traveling underground in a long tunnel. She couldn’t wait to be old enough to ride into the city on her own.

Jaime sits. It’s not the grossest thing she’s witnessed on the New York City subway.

She raged against the shackles that fashion lashed around her body, that gender weighed upon her soul, and she spit and she clawed and she cursed the names of the boys who mocked her aspirations.

She’d once promised to burn herself to ashes but that was long ago. Now she asked herself “Where did all the anger go?”

‘You used my envelope,’ Cian stated

‘Well feck off then….’

From Guest Contributor Valkyrie Kerry Kelly

His twin’s name was Darrel. Jerrod thought wistfully that most twins were nearly the same. It couldn’t be further from the truth in his and Darrel’s case. Darrel was the incarnate of evil. He, on the other hand, tried to be a good man. His life was difficult at best, but Darrel made it worse always whispering in his ear, trying to get him to do awful things. He always managed to talk Darrel out of doing these things, but it was getting more difficult dealing with Darrel. ‘Being conjoined was a real pain in the ass,’ he thought ruefully!

From Guest Contributor Derrick Fernie

“You’re such an asshole Chuck,” the back-braced senior citizen Ruby said as Chuck held the Stanford Medical Center elevator door open for her with one arm, balancing seven incontinence pads in his left.

“Of course you do. You would.”

From Guest Contributor Jay Paul

Rachel held herself tightly and rehashed all the bitter memories. The water soaked into her skin and she wished the gentle lapping would wash away her regrets and better-left-unsaids. Yet her mood only darkened as the wrinkles formed.

She’d rather claim the responsibility. At least then there is hope.

When Bob achieved omniscience in heaven, pretty much all the crazy shit that had never made sense now became clear. But as he sat on a cloud with Baby Jesus, there was still one mystery that confused him.

Baby Jesus giggled. “To tell you the truth, I don’t get why they worshiped me in the first place. Why not go in for one of the more vengeful religions that better suited their temperament?”

The figure appeared out of the fog covered in blood and carrying a large stone tablet. He made it only a few steps towards us, then collapsed.

Boiled down, it read, “Stop being assholes to each other.”