'Flash' writing anthology about chronic pain - submissions welcome!
I’ve slept through Christmas. I shiver and pull the covers over me; sweat, and throw the covers off. My head bobs with nausea as I hobble to the bathroom to pee. The cats stay away, though at some point I hear them sliding across the living room floor, chasing that knitted ball with the bell. They […]
Our minds latch to narrative, it’s how we learn, remember, interpret. I went to hospital to have a baby, I should’ve returned more, not less. Subtracted: my ability to rise, walk, move; In my pelvis, broken bone. What is the premise? What is the character’s motivation? What is the hook? That feeling: ochre, electric, waist […]
From our window, the clouds seemed static, frozen. Orange-and-green taxicabs drove through the slush six floors down. Tilly whimpered, buzzed for the nurse, asked for Dilaudid, whispered “good morning.” Swaddled in her sheets, she breathed hard. Phenolic air. She asked me how I was feeling. We lolled in our beds, our mothers asleep in their […]
My grandma had 7300 sleepless nights Until a Shanghai doctor said ‘You have restless legs’ Pills prescribed Leaflet read, Pramipexole Hydrochloride The 1st good night’s sleep In the 7301 nights. by Xie Licheng UK
Pain is a pre-requisite to Creation. Take for example the process of bringing forth life. Albeit it is a painful process, nevertheless, it is also a glorious creation. History stands testimony to the fact that all the great ones who ever walked the Earth have risen to great heights walking through the aisle of pain. […]
she is in the sauna drinking coke and eating salted peanuts one knee resting against the hot wood, silvery hair damp and sticking to her shoulders we discuss midwifery and the what it’s like to catch a slippery baby in your palms she is standing in seal skin coat with white fur collar beside the […]
for a split second a thought crosses my mind by anonymous Canada
Pain paralyses. It hurts too much to move, to unlock, unhinge my joints, put pressure on my tender limbs. I will wait for my Carer: my lover, my friend, who will lift me from my bed, magnificently. My arms encircle his neck as I breathe in the salty sunshine of his skin, pressing my lips […]
Where does it even start? I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know How can I tell each apart? I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know Where does it even end? I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know Why isn’t my body my friend? I don’t know, I don’t know, […]
Four walls, Four walls and me, Four walls a fistful of pills and me, Silence Surrounded by silence, The silence that reminds me me myself and I. Except you, You’re never silent, The voice that never stops, The endless alarm that disturbs my slumber, You rattle round my brain in whispers and shouts until I […]