March 6, 2025

The Dance of the Peacock, Part 2

The peacock was now an intermittent visitor to the garden at Sakoonat-e-Siddiqui, just as Sumaira’s cheerfulness had become more and more an occasional companion. She couldn’t help drawing a comparison between the bird seeking out her garden and her wellbeing seeking the outdoors.
February 27, 2025

The Dance of the Peacock, Part 1

Sumaira came out onto the veranda to the shrill scream of a peacock. The bird sat resplendent and angry in the garden looking at the house like a baneful beast. Sumaira was gripped in a flux of emotions as she caught her breath watching the iridescence of its plumage in the morning sun. She also felt a rush of anxiety raise the hairs on the back of her neck.
October 31, 2024

Halloween in Brooklyn

I was 12 that year, and my friends and I dressed up in our costumes and went trick-or-treating up and down the elevators… Every neighborhood has a witch, an old person every kid avoids, out of fear of something we couldn’t exactly grasp at 12. They were so foreign to my Yankees-loving, Keds-wearing self – their thick Yiddish accents, their mouths and ears seemingly oversized for their faces, the women smelling like talcum, the men of spittle and phlegm. But the scariest of them all was Mrs. Pincus, apartment 12B.
October 26, 2024

Prize    

“You have won a luxurious casket with a choice of satin interior lining; solid Mahogany construction in a polished natural finish with elegantly rounded corners. It comes with brushed bronze handles and a matching pillow. But that’s not all; you will also enjoy a prime site in the Restland cemetery.”
September 15, 2024

Prized Myths and Fairy Tales of the MockingOwl Roost

Welcome to the first prize winners issue of the MockingOwl Roost - the Prized Myths and Fairy Tales of the MockingOwl Roost. This beautiful collection of fairy tale and mythology-based flash fiction, micro-essays, and haiku/tanka sequence pieces come from authors around the world.
May 26, 2024

Reach the Beach

The car was quiet. Eddie listened to a radio station doing a two-hour Phil Collins set. He heard ‘In the Air Tonight’, ‘You Belong to Me’, “Sissudio’, ‘Take a Look at Me Now’ and ‘Take Me Home’ every thirty-five minutes. Everything repeated. The show was taped then looped because apparently no one wanted the late-night on-air shift. The programming kept him awake. He didn’t stop again until they reached the junction with I-10 in Lake City, Florida, just after three in the morning. Eddie had driven two-hundred-sixteen miles. The Old Man needed all fifteen gallons.
May 22, 2024

Bobbing On the Ocean

“I’m sorry. I’ve almost got it licked though. I’m never touching another drop. Going on the wagon. I’m quitting. That was it last night, I promise. I’m done,” he said.
May 10, 2024

The Long Deep Freeze, Part 1

As we walked among the pods, I stressed the level of demand and the need for absolute secrecy to protect the privacy of the famous clientele. She seemed satisfied, and we returned to my ‘consulting room’ to finalise the terms.
April 25, 2024

I’m For You, If You’re For Me

Sure, they were real pros compared to Rex, but all they did was cover songs. Rex, though he could only strum a few chords, was a dreamer. The chords and melody came to him one night sitting alone in his apartment after a couple hits on a bong.
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