DEATH CHIMES by Sandra Seamans
THE JUNGLE GAME by Nancy Famolari
LOVING MEMORIES by Carol A. Cole
RESURRECTION by Nancy Famolari
A MARTIAN SUCCESS STORY by Michael A. Kechula
by Sandra Seamans
Beta's phone chirped into the suffocating air of her apartment. She didn't need to look at the caller ID to know who was calling. She held her hands over her ears trying to shut out the phone's clamoring chimes.
Joe was dead. She'd killed him herself, wiping that ugly smile off his face once and for all. And still he called, accusations filling the apartment with every jarring jangle, his voice chilling her to the bone when she finally answered.
“You can’t get rid of me that easily, darling.”
Beta heeled the phone into splintered pieces. And still it rang.
by Nancy Famolari
"Tommy, come out of there right now!"
"Aw, Mom." Tommy stuck his head out of the television set. "We're playing the jungle game. It's feeding time."
"I don't care what you're doing in there. Come out right now and bring your sister with you."
Tommy ducked back into the jungle.
Jane said, "Did you tell her?"
"Yeah, but she wouldn't listen."
Mom stepped into the TV. A lion pounced and ate her.
Tommy said, "I tried to tell her I was feeding the lion."
by Carol A. Cole
I've lost Harry, the love of my life," Brenda sobbed.
"You've said that about all your husbands," said Mitchell.
"Yes. They were all very special. That's why I've chosen you again. Here’s a photo of Harry on his treadmill in cutoff jeans and shirtless.”
“Should I include the treadmill and jeans?”
“Yes, of course.”
~*~
Brenda followed Mitchell into the study where Harry joined her first three husbands.
"It’s gorgeous. Thank you."
Brenda paid Mitchell then watched him drive away in his van with the red and gold lettering: Mitchell's Taxidermy.
by Nancy Famolari
The witch doctor shook his gourds over the woman's corpse in the coffin. When he mumbled magic words, her eyelids flickered. Suddenly, she sat up.
"Wow, Doc!" said Harvey. "You did it!"
"Oh, Harvey, my darling. You brought me back. You really do love me."
She stretched out her arms to him. "I feel like I could live forever."
Harvey grabbed the witch doctor and dragged him to a corner. "Hey, Doc, I didn't mean forever. I just wanted to ask her what she did with the checkbook."
by Michael A. Kechula
When an interstellar fungus invaded Mars, many pets died.
Dr. Glixi tried to reanimate his pet dinosaur with lasers. Unfortunately, the carcass transformed into brown goo.
“Argh!” cried Glixi. “My pet looks like chocolate pudding!”
His assistant tasted the goo. “Yum! This IS chocolate pudding.”
“Pudding? I’ve failed miserably.”
“No, Doctor. You’ve succeeded. Earthlings love Martian-made chocolate pudding. But it’s expensive. Sell this batch cheap. You’ll get rich.”
“What happens when it’s gone?”
“Our cemeteries are overflowing with dead pets.”
“Hmm. Fungus-filled corpses plus lasers equals luscious pudding.”
Today, Dr. Glixi’s Special Formula Chocolate Pudding is Earth’s favorite snack.