Posts Tagged ‘Heart’
Apr
Heart The Size Of A Car
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I wake up and it’s almost dark. I hear boom…boom…boom. I think it’s the raccoons jumping across the roof on their way to look for food. Maybe it’s the wind, the porch swing hitting the house, fireworks for some forgotten holiday or the war we’ve been waiting for but when I pull back the curtain on the window in the door, each rectangle of glass is a piece of your thumping heart, the size of a car, its feathery periwinkle veins like map-rivers, red finger-branches steady, wrapping down around the lower chambers, stamping the glass with tree patterns, knocking. Asking.
From Guest Contributor Brook Bhagat
Brook (she/her) is the author of Only Flying, a Pushcart-nominated collection of surreal poetry and flash fiction on paradox, rebellion, transformation, and enlightenment from Unsolicited Press. Her work has won contests and appeared in Monkeybicycle, Empty Mirror, Soundings East, Anthem: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen, and elsewhere. Two new collections, Exodus with Red Delicious and I Drink from an Ear: Real Ghazals, are forthcoming from Unsolicited Press in 2026 and 2027. She is a founding editor of Blue Planet Journal, the founder and facilitator of The Nearby Universe writers’ group, and a professor of creative writing at Pikes Peak State College.
Mar
They Were Her Rock
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
“You can do this!” “Be positive.” “You’re not alone.”
An assortment of rocks made up the flowerbed in front of a tall brick building. Some were scattered, others piled, many with painted pictures and handwritten messages.
Walking from the parking lot was perilous at best. Cheryl navigated the uneven sidewalk cautiously, crunching ice under heavy boots, pounding stale snow into powder.
The front glass-door opened. Volunteers greeted at the end of the entrance foyer away from the cold drafts of the outdoors. Someone sat at the reception counter awaiting questions.
Cheryl’s heart raced. Her radiation treatment was about to begin.
From Guest Contributor Krystyna Fedosejevs
Feb
Reunion
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I was only seventeen when I gave my baby girl away to a loving family. My parents were by my side as my heart ached and I cried to sleep every night.
Happily married with two grown sons, my thoughts still frequented that sweet red-faced baby I left behind.
I felt my heart palpitate and my hands tremble, but my boys told me not to worry.
Molly had doubts but agreed to come.
The doorbell rings.
I straightened my clothes and took a deep breath.
On the other side of the door was my daughter waiting to meet her mother.
From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher
Feb
The Ascent
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
The door heaves open. Light floods me while darkness retreats inside me. The guards shove me outside my cell. On the stairs, my heart beats like a war drum. One step. Two. Many more. While my chains gently clink. At the summit, I look down and the people cheer. I see their mouths moving but I can’t hear a sound. All I hear is my panicked breath. As they take off my chains, the darkness escapes. I feel so light that I lose the ground under my feet. I smile, in the twenty-five meters that separate me from the abyss.
From Guest Contributor Davide Risso
Davide grew up in Italy, but his itchy feet led him to live in Ireland, Germany, the United States, and travel around the globe. Scientist by training, writer by passion, rock climber by vocation, his fiction has appeared in Flash Fiction Magazine, RumbleFish Press, Literary Yard, and Cranked Anvil among others.
Feb
Open Up Your Heart
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
The door slammed shut so forcefully, Winston felt the reverberations from his bedroom.
It was better this way. Sarah would never be happy. She wanted someone to match her emotions at both ends. He just wasn’t built that way. “Don’t get too high or too low.” That was his motto.
There were probably another 20 minutes before daylight would start creaking through the blinds, but there was no point trying to fall back asleep. So he went to the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal.
Winston wished the fight had started after breakfast. He missed Sarah’s pancakes already.
Oct
Out Of Time
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Christopher ran as fast as possible to the station. Typical, leaving it to the last minute.
He kept hoping Brian would say something first. Even if it wasn’t I’m sorry, the simple act of reaching out would have encouraged Christopher to admit the accusations had been out of line. He can’t help his sensitive heart, and sometimes Brian was the victim.
Now Brian is on the train to Boston. Now Brian is marrying the ex he’d left for Christopher. Now Brian is dead.
The apology will forever go unstated. He will forever be alone. Christopher has fallen out of time.
Oct
Holes
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
A court decision of forced eviction awaited him on the table. A huge hole sudenly gaped where his intestines often knotted and his stomach spasmed. He found himself in the no-man’s house he had once called home. And there is another new and bigger hole: where until a few moments ago the heart beat arrhythmically. “I need to sit down,” said the man who had no more legs at all. He stared at that thing that was still broadcasting a programme. A smile shone on his face. Through the hole in the skull flickered the healing glow of TV screen.
From Guest Contributor Ivan Ristic
Oct
His Stuff
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
Junk: garbage to some, treasure to others, clutter at best, navigational obstacle on flooring, the cause of falls and injury…
Antonio learned firsthand. The architect of his own disaster, he sat idly on an easy chair, arm in cast, pondering what to do with all his stuff.
Quite unexpectedly a lightbulb lit up his mind, showing him the way. Creativity reawakened. His heart warmed with new purpose. He sprung to work.
Praises from the artistic community accelerated his mission. Photos of his unique collages went viral. He was crowned ‘artist extraordinaire’.
…all because of the ‘junk’ in his humble abode.
From Guest Contributor Krystyna Fedosejevs
Sep
Open Arms?
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
When I took the online family DNA test for fun, I didn’t expect to find out I have a sister. After I read the results, I confronted my mom, and she admitted the truth that she gave birth to a daughter before she met and married my dad. My heart ached knowing all these years I could’ve had a sister and didn’t know.
I’m driving on the parkway, the radio blaring. In fifteen minutes, I’ll be at Cassie’s house. The big sister I didn’t grow up with and meeting for the first time.
Will she welcome me with open arms?
From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher
Jul
Dougie
by thegooddoctor in 100 Words
I carried my dog Dougie to the car, his whining echoing. I was too busy engrossed in the baseball game to notice his barking and I have no idea how long he was trapped in that wire fence while I cheered and gorged on chips.
I drove to the veterinarian at warp speed and hoped not to get pulled over. My heart pounded, but I kept my cool and talked to him. “It’ll be okay, Dougie.”
I slammed open the door and yelled: “Help him!”
“Don’t worry we’ll do everything we can to save Dougie’s leg.”
I sat and waited.
From Guest Contributor Lisa M. Scuderi-Burkimsher