PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door* Beth knows she lived in Manzano for twenty years. When others find out that she used to live in a place reported to be a culturally enriched, bohemic paradise, they invariably ask, “What was it like to live in Manzano?” Beth would love to answer from…

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields Juvie He’d done it on a dare. Pete was new to Oakridge. It was his third new school this year. His folks struggled to pay rent with minimum wage jobs. They were familiar with the ham-fisted pound at the front door. Kids that move around a lot are left with…

PHOTO PROMPT © Jen Pendergast Bats in the Belfry Reverend June looked for divine inspiration to write this Sunday’s sermon, her first in the new parish. She was replacing Father Flannery, who’d disappeared suddenly, location unknown, after thirty years at the pulpit. She’d heard so much about Father Flannery as a preacher who could sway…

PHOTO PROMPT © Kent Bonham Where are the Crayons? A distant voice on an intercom pulled me from dreams. Groggy, it took a moment to orient once I opened my eyes to pastel goldenrod walls and day-bright LEDs. Right. The surgery. I turned my head and vertigo slapped me around. Slower, silly. Brain implants ain’t…

PHOTO PROMPT © David Stewart Winter Pastimes Winter is a time for puzzles and dreaming. Everyone knows Ginger likes puzzles, so she has a stockpile to choose from. She’s been saving “Miller’s Pond” for awhile. Its cloudy-skied gloominess isn’t what she’s looking for in mid-February. She reaches for a colorful equatorial puzzle with a green…

PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz Faster than a Speeding Bullet… “A round of schnapps for me and the boys!” Nicky’s stomach lurched at the smell as she poured, but it masked the stench that seemed to have soaked into the velveteen-flocked wallpaper of The Pickle. Billy was so amped that his dart tinked off of…

PHOTO PROMPT © Mr. Binks A Fine Woman Born eighty years ago, Marina was named after the family business. From the time she could walk, Marina was stacking bins. By age ten, she was cutting bait; and by fifteen, was taking trawlers out and throwing cages. At age thirty, it was Marina’s idea to invest…