September 26, 2024

“Satan’s Shadow” by Thomas J. Misuraca

“Satan’s Shadow” by Thomas J. Misuraca

*Featured image courtesy of Peter Forster on Unsplash* Today we have an excellent horror piece by Tom Misuraca. We don’t get a lot of horror, so this is a welcome treat on FC. Tom is also a prolific writer, so we hope to see more from him in the future! The decrepit station wagon sped out of town. Russell clutched the wheel, squeezing until his biceps bulged. Next to him sat his wife, Trudy, her flesh and clothes caked in mud. Her long, curly hair frizzed by the swamp humidity. Russell felt immaculate compared to her; only his boots were dirty.  “It is done,” Trudy repeated over and over, rocking in her seat.  They drove away from the sun and away from the evil presence that had haunted them. Russell feared they would never escape….

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September 18, 2024

Radio . . . What? RadioGAGA!

Radio . . . What? RadioGAGA!

Philip Gabbard returns to Fictional Cafe with a new creative fiction project: a film treatment based upon a very popular song from the 1990s. Phil is a create-preneur of many talents and interests and we’re always interested in his work. He’s written creative nonfiction, THISday: Words for the Venerable and the Vulnerable, and Thrivation: The Everlasting Philosophy of Providence + Privilege. He penned (on his MacBook Pro) Every Saint, Every Sinner, a novel about his spiritual experiences. He produced and directed an extraordinary video based on the life and death of an archetypal Hispanic woman called La Llorona. Phil is beholden to Freddy Mercury and Queen for the inspiration to write about radio. More specifically, the rise and nowadays the fall of radio broadcasting. With the rise of television, its demise was probably inevitable. TV…

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September 16, 2024

Rachel Gonzalez’s New Story

Rachel Gonzalez’s New Story

Rachel is our Fiction Writer in Residence, and she has written an outstanding new story for us, “Scrappy Metal.” It takes a very contemporary – and ironic – perspective concerning technology and its ever-encroaching desire (read between the lines: AI) to take over our human lives. It’s not only current but it’s also very funny. One of the most enjoyable stories we’ve published. Please let us know what you think of it in the Comments section at the end. Scrappy Metal Photo credit: IRobot.com I crushed another Cheez-It in my hand and sprinkled it on the floor. “God. Would you stop that?” My roommate’s shrill girlfriend, Molly, screeched at me. Although she was always here she didn’t actually pay any bills, so I didn’t have to listen to her. “Hey, I’m just feeding the little…

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September 13, 2024

Two Poems by Joe Bisicchia

Two Poems by Joe Bisicchia

*Featured Image courtesy of Eric Ward on Unsplash* This week, we have some lovely poems by Joe Bisicchia. They may be short, but they pack an emotional punch. Enjoy! Venus de Milo  Hold me.   Don’t be a stone heart.  Be real.  That simple.   That plain.  Hold me.  Even if just with your eyes. Canvas  My father’s hands were calloused from his plastering tool, his hold on his trowel, his carrying of mortar board before he would be lost in a cloud, lost in a Renoir brush, as weather patterns are wont to do. He always said see art in all the blank space. My father, an immigrant, had labored so many facades, long halls and tall vestibules with plaster of Paris, smoothing over surface of every wall to get me through school. Illiterate, yet, the…

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August 26, 2024

3 Poems by Sarah Daly

3 Poems by Sarah Daly

*Featured image courtesy of Andreas Rasmussen on Unsplash* This week we have some wonderful poems by Sarah Daly. Don’t let their size fool you. They may be short, but these poems are full of emotion. Enjoy! At Day’s End  Leaf after leaf drops   on the autumn path.  They piece a rich quilt  of crimsons and golds and   corals which cover the dirt;  my feet crush them,   obliterate them,  grind them into the soft earth.    But the landscape  does nothing to penetrate   November’s loneliness.    Stars  Incandescent circles  weave through  the night sky,  their shadows  traversing our tangled limbs  and signifying joy, joy,  joy.  In the Now Don’t say it, whatever you think, don’t say the words, we are trapped in this reality TV lifestyle (go along go along) don’t open your mouth, there is no more…

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