The bar above B.B. King’s was Steph’s sanctuary. The blues drifted up from below as did the hazy, not-so-distant glow of Beale St. The world felt so far away, and he thought of his grandmother and church. He wondered if music sounded this way to angels on Sunday morning. That was his guilt getting to […]
The bird seemed to be saying his name. He was sure it was his groggy, half-asleep imagination, but as he stirred awake, he heard it again; clipped, three-syllable chirps saying: Christopher! Christopher! Christopher! He turned in the bed and saw the pale glow of dawn through thin white curtains. He sat his stiff, middle-aged frame […]
“Never place a loaded gun onstage if it isn’t going to go off.” – Anton Chekhov Between murders, suicides, and accidents there were 45,000 firearm deaths in the USA in 2021. What would Chekhov say about introducing 400 million guns onstage? The iron gate to Wally’s Pawn Shop opened with a buzz from an electronic […]
In our 5th outing with the Shotgun Honey Presents anthology series, editor Ron Earl Phillips presents a collection for 20 stories and a dedication to his mother, Carolyn Jean Phillips. All profits will be donated to benefit Breast Cancer research and support. What to Expect inside… The fifth installment of the Shotgun Honey Presents anthology […]
My mom gave me the box for my eighth birthday. Told me to fill it with something sweet, something special. She said it was good to keep things close to the heart, something to remember him by. When daddy died, it was like my world shattered quick as the mirrors he’d break with his fist. […]
I’ve been watching this guy for about a week now. Ever since they announced they were tearing down the Bargain Time. Back in the day, Bargain Time was on of those places that sold a little bit of everything. Tools and clothes and toys and kitchen stuff and chain saws and appliances, all under one […]
“You can’t sit here.” “What’d you say, old timer?” He was a grizzly in a Packers jersey, with wrists the size of my neck. If you fuck this up, I thought, he’s going to kill you and use your femur as a toothpick. “I sai . . . I said you can’t sit here,” I […]
“I already told you, I can’t move it,” said Mooney. He sat at a metal-framed desk. I tossed a newspaper to him. It landed with a thump. “Say’s it’s worth two million.” He glanced at the headline above the fold. “Yeah, Danny, front page.” “Two million,” I repeated. “This thing’s hotter than Carolyn’s ass on […]
Don’t start with the jokes. Yes, I know the fence around the cemetery is because people are dying to get in. You think I haven’t heard that like every time I get a beer after work? Christ, think up something new, will ya? I mean, the real funny shit I see don’t make for a […]
Dad was gone. Mom, her cheekbone cracked from his most recent liquor-fueled rage, mourned only the loss of his truck, not that we left home much. We were the last of the holdouts, still living on the hill in the season of endless fire. The crows stayed with us despite the smoke. They were so […]
There are at least seven ways to kill a person with a ballpoint pen. I read that somewhere once. Too bad the author didn’t describe any of them. If I knew one I might’ve tried it. I guess I could‘ve just stabbed the Bic in my hand through the man’s eye and into his brain. […]
It’s funny how people react when there’s a gun pointed at your face. Most are paralyzed by fear. Frozen stiff as they stare down the nose of barking death. Some get weirdly calm, like a Buddhist monk contemplating his belly button. As if focusing on breathing, on being in the moment will somehow mitigate the […]
