‘Wolf’

By Lucy Jane Bledsoe

As Jim tries to identify with the Yellowstone wolf trackers, both he and his wife have an awakening that changes their lives forever.

Bio: Lucy Jane Bledsoe has authored four novels and six children’s books, and her work has appeared in literary magazines. Awards include the California Arts & Letters Fiction Prize, the 2009 Sherwood Anderson Prize for Fiction, and a California Arts Council Fellowship.

‘The Decline and Fall’

By P.J. Devlin

At 88, Gloria is in decline and needs some help managing her daily chores. Enter Helen, her Meals-on-Wheels driver, who quickly makes herself indispensable but has mischief on her mind.

Bio: P.J. Devlin lives in Fairfax, Virginia. Her fiction has appeared in literary magazines.

‘The Wolf Boy of Forest Lawn’

By Stephen G. Eoannou

After a young boy goes missing, his teacher and classmates learn a lesson about myths, education, and the danger of secret agendas.

Bio: Stephen G. Eoannou lives in Buffalo, New York. His work has appeared in literary magazines.

‘Surface Tension’

By Andrew Hamilton

Isolated by the domestication of his 
family household, a desperate husband initiates 
a series of self-destructive acts in an attempt 
to rediscover the relationships he once knew with 
his wife and daughter.

Bio: Andrew Hamilton lives in Lookout Mtn., Tennessee. His poetry has appeared in literary magazines.

‘The Battle of the Pewhasset Pie Palace’

By Cynthia McGean

All Big Rosco has going for him is his 
love for Loretta, his big ears, and a windmill-tilting spirit worthy of Don Quixote. Is that enough 
to save the Pewhasset Pie Palace from the clutches of the villainous Taco Charlie and the destructive power of The World Famous Twelve Flags Amusement 
Park and Arcade Extravaganza?

Bio: Cynthia J. McGean is a teacher and award-winning writer (Writer’s Digest, Ogle, and more) who is currently working on two novels.

‘A Corner Room at the Y’

By Marvin Pletzke
Milvey is a loner. Each time he enters the world to compete, he does something to derail himself. Believing in oneself is not always an option. Seems that some people just aren’t meant to be where they find themselves.

Bio: Marvin Pletzke is an established playwright living in Malden on Hudson, New York. This is his first short story published by a national magazine.

‘The Conch Shell’

By Caroline Sposto

Told through the voice of a resilient
 5-year-old, a middle-class white family 
in the segregated South strives for stability 
despite the mother’s confinement in an iron lung.

Bio: Caroline Sposto lives in Memphis, Tennessee. Her work has appeared in literary magazines and anthologies.