Elementary, My Dear Marple
Who doesn’t love a a good whodunnit? We love mysteries, particularly cozy mysteries, and so we’ve gathered some fabulously fun short fiction in the genre. Read tales of intrigue and curiosity in our short special issue: Elementary, My Dear Marple.
The Boy with the Kind Brown Eyes
“Would you like to join us in a game of volleyball?” I looked up at the gangly teenagers before me. Both were tall and thin, and had kind brown eyes and shoulder-length straight brown hair. “I’m Alex and this is Greg,” one of them added, by way of introduction.
Whatever Happened to The Goodies?
Shown on BBC1, The Goodies produced 76 episodes in all, spread over nine seasons, and at the peak of its popularity attracted 15 million viewers.
The Photographer
She always ignored these intrusions, but in the most recent dream she looked up and snapped, “Go away!”
Tulatulahan, Part 6
I see the rhythms, and not just the form. Life here remains ever in motion, circling in predictable paths as easily seen by me now as the landmarks are by Uncle Norbing.
Quarterly & Special Issues
Submissions next open from June 1 to August 31 2024
December 20, 2023
When did life change?
When did I need to start selling heirlooms to buy oxygen?
When did Christmas become poems and paper?
December 19, 2023
Apart from import-friendly grocery stores in the United States, Ribena comes at a hard-fought effort. It also bears the calorie toll of sugar, both added and natural, and unnatural ingredients infused into the “black currant fruit drink” mix. A surprisingly delightful, and calorie-free alternative, comes in the form of Ahmad Teas Blackcurrant Burst.
December 19, 2023
I never believed the concept that animals didn't have thoughts, feelings, or emotions. And one Christmas Eve, my beloved lab-retriever mix, Sandy, showed me that I was right.
December 18, 2023
The idea of not having Christmas caused him to go into a tailspin, but within a week or two, he was back to talking about Calgary and everything he missed about it…
December 16, 2023
In this comics Emylle, our heroine, who’s a woman in a wheelchair with curly, short hair sits beside a friendly lion who shows her around the place. The lion greets her, "Oh Emylle, you’re gonna love it in here!”
December 15, 2023
Please enjoy Unexpected Delights, a beautifully themed issue of the MockingOwl Roost.
December 12, 2023
Our bedroom walls were shiny with posters of boy-band chests and bad-boy grins hiding unicorns and floral wallpaper. Our mothers fought us, our little sisters wanted to be us, our fathers avoided us.
December 10, 2023
As a thank you for the work, I brought you a gift.” From the little pocket of his work suit, he took out the book that increased the visual centimeters around his stomach. “While I was fixing the plumbing problems upstairs, the door at the bottom of the hall was open so I could see the many bookshelves you have there. I hope this novel adds to your already rich collection of covers and stacks of papers you keep in the room upstairs.”
December 9, 2023
In the morning, I look out over the vegetable patch. Leaves are scattered. There is a hole in one of the beds. Someone has been pinching my carrots. I notice paw marks on the conservatory window and a deep scratch on the glass.
“I think we have a visitor,” I say to my wife. “A squirrel.”
December 8, 2023
Three little girls were walking up the steep part of a dirt road toward the wooden railroad bridge. So much happened at the railroad bridge. It was where they could find all the other kids in the neighborhood who had bare feet and scabby knees like they had. It was a place to play, and talk, and underneath was a perfect hiding place.
December 7, 2023
As a person who has worked with the Foster Care system, this storyline grabs me by the throat. I found myself choking up as I read about the sorting of children, like socks, at Kringletown. Ryder didn’t deserve that. No child does.
December 6, 2023
“You still hungry?”
come words
from high glossed,
almost polished
lips to make my
date appear younger,
a beauty however.
December 3, 2023
The characters were beautifully written, and had you feeling for them as if they were your friends/family. The harsh environment of Avocado punctuated every life choice that Scrooge made. Again totally out of left field, and wonderful.
December 2, 2023
The landfills cry out as last year’s gifts reach them.
The Earth is dying from the waste!
Abandoned toys weep as they melt into mush.
December 1, 2023
The instant the tea arrived, I headed to the kitchen, turned on the kettle, and waited for the bubbles. Lifting the lid of the tea tin, I knew instantly that delicate Christmas-y delight lay in store for my soul. Sip and Be Merry from the Republic of Tea could only offer all I had hoped for…
November 30, 2023
Did you see anyone in the afterlife? Did my Daddy, your dad and Andy shove you back to earth? Did they bar your entrance into Glory?
November 27, 2023
In this comic, Emylle, our heroine, who’s a woman in a wheelchair, with short, curly in waits at the bus stop. A large bear stands beside her.
The bear notices Emylle and sits down, starting a conversation by saying, “Are you in school?”
November 25, 2023
She liked fruit, especially peaches, but this one unnerved her, the sinister-looking stem seemed to be searching her out. She stared back at the periscopic pedicle of the soft, rounded fruit expecting a salvo of gunfire, but with a distinct crack, the peach exploded in a messy, fleshy burst of light. Silence.
November 21, 2023
“Careful,” she said and held him back. “When I was young, on a summer evening like this, there were hundreds of fireflies. It was like we were walking among the stars. There aren’t so many now.”
November 20, 2023
Scroll through the Britbox streaming service. I dare you. For therein you may come across one of the most ridiculous, offensive, delightful, uplifting, confusing religious comedies ever made. To call Dawn French, et. al, genius is an understatement I won’t be guilty of. Rather, I like to refer to the show as what helped save my Christian sanity.