On "To Wade Alone" by C. B. Calsing (3436 words) ***

One time, back in grade school, I wanted to join a football game. I was told no. I was told I was too small, that I would get hurt. These kids were about my age, maybe a year older than I was. They were playing football--tackle football, as I recall--on pavement, so of course I'd have gotten hurt, as would they. But they were crazy kids, I know that now. Still, at the time, being told no was a little off-putting. Sure, I was their age, but I was small and skinny. They were watching out for my safety. The little guy. I couldn't make the decision regarding my safety for myself.

Put that in an adult context, and it becomes all the more jarring. It becomes ridiculous. And that's what happens in this story. Betty Carmichael is a little lady, quite literally, a tiny gal in a freak show. Everyone at the show looks out for her, and everyone at the show prevents her from ever growing up. All she wants to do is go to the beach. All she wants to do, in others' eyes, is risk her life. They know better. Betty is, after all, just a little woman. Read the story here at On the Premises.

On "The ABCs of Murder" by Mercedes M. Yardley (2908 words) ***

I like when a story takes an old theme and manages to make something different out of that theme by turning the concept into something concrete, something literal. Yardley's piece does just that, and is particularly compelling toward the beginning as we get a feel for what's actually happening. Grief, murder, ghosts, and memory--they all find a place here at On the Premises.