Volcanoes! by Hubert Vigilla

This thing is Greg all over. He read a Greek mythology book and the assignment was to make a board game, so here’s our beat-up Fireball Island from the garage with “Olympus! The Game!” written on one side in white out. He’s hot-glued some of his action figures at the corners. Superman (minus the cape) is Zeus, I think. I can’t really figure out the rest so I ask.

     “Dad,” he says and rolls his eyes. “That’s Batman, Wolverine, and Spider-Man.”

     “But which Greek gods are they?”

     “They’re just Batman, Wolverine, and Spider-Man.”

     “That doesn’t make any sense.”

     He points at a sticky note that reads, “This is very creative, Greg!” A-minus, smiley face. Greg beams and presses his tongue through the gap where a baby tooth used to be.

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Photo © Kerry Sellers

The September 2016 edition of Long Story, Short Journal is 'Volcanoes!' by Hubert Vigilla. This story invites readers into a stay-at-home father's fantasy world, where tomorrow's lunch is left going stale on the counter while a rumbling volcano is growing in the garage. READ 'VOLCANOES!'

Housebroken by Evelyn Walsh

The night of the robbery Ruth had gone to bed early with The Housebreaker of Shady Hill. She was stunned by this coincidence; it was her opening line in class the next day. “We were robbed last night, and guess what I was reading.” The kids hooted and crowed in jolly disbelief, or rather the kids who had actually read the story fell about laughing and the others quickly caught on. Ruth laughed along with them. She supposed she should be more upset. 

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Photo © Aurélie Bellacicco. 

The August 2016 edition of Long Story, Short Journal is 'Housebroken' by Evelyn Walsh, with a photo by Aurélie Bellacicco. Evelyn Walsh, the 2015 winner of the Seán Ó Faoláin International short story competition, often scrutinises the drama of everyday life in her work. Home, neighbourhood and the workplace are observed with a literary lense, and her characters' lives are relayed with wit, compassion and an unrelenting honesty.  READ 'HOUSEBROKEN'.