Welcome to this week’s installment of many micro stories, ranging in length from 100 words to 500 words.
With each story we hope to deliver a little whimsy into the lives of our readers.
TETHERED
He stands in his kitchen, coffee mug in hand. I don’t remember waking up.
Is it a workday? He’s wearing a tie… or is he? Everything is foggy. Distant voices—his wife and son.
He’s outside. The big oak in the front yard. Pushing Tommy on the tire swing. The rope fraying, but he knows it will hold. Is this a memory?
Tommy and the swing disappear.
***
Tom opens the car door, briefcase in hand. He hesitates, one foot inside.
It’s a clear, still day. Yet despite the lack of wind, the tire swing on the old oak is swaying.
Greg Schwartz writes speculative fiction and poetry. He lives in the US with his wife, children, and dog. He’s been fortunate to have stories in Black Ink Horror, Champagne Shivers, Writers’ Journal, and Stupefying Stories. In a pre-fatherhood life, he was the staff cartoonist for SP Quill Magazine and a book reviewer for Whispers of Wickedness.
If you enjoyed this story you can find it and more in the Hawthorn & Ash 2023 anthology.
Iron Faerie Publishing 
Wonderful ♥️
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