Anvil in a Lace Bootie

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

‘Deposit this,’ he snarled. ‘Certainly, sir,’ oozed the bank president with a bow and a scrape. ‘And let that be a lesson,’ added the cruel landlord. He then left the building and was set upon and beaten to death by an impressive number of people.

11:56 am · October 23, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

nudge an elderly gentleman down some stairs, and knock the hat off a young woman struggling with arms full of crying baby and several parcels. He blustered into the bank and stormed into the president’s office. There he dumped his filthy lucre on the president’s desk.

11:56 am · October 23, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

landlord had framed him for embezzlement. Flicking a mote of dirt from his left spat with his ebony walking stick and whistling ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’, the cruel landlord set off at a brisk pace along the walkway. He deftly used his stick to trip up a young roller skater,

11:56 am · October 23, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

THE CRUEL LANDLORD #flashfiction Before leaving his palace to walk to the bank and deposit his filthy lucre, the cruel landlord pulled from his waistcoat pocket the watch he’d stolen from the widow of his former partner, a man who had recently died in prison after the cruel

11:56 am · October 23, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

and sign it over to me at once. (Q eagerly races from the room. Barnum chuckles and wrings his hands in the manner of Zasu Pitts.) pic.twitter.com/Sd1z21W7Pu

11:52 am · October 22, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

I personally rescued from beneath a frond in the jungles of Australia and carry here in the pocket of my vest. Q: I don’t have any money. Could I give you something else for a peek at the princess? Barnum (looking around): The deed to this emporium would be satisfactory. Fetch it

11:52 am · October 22, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

BARNUM INTERVIEW #dada Q: Haven’t we met earlier, Mr. Barnum? Barnum: My popularity is such that return engagements are no novelty to me. Q: Oh. What is your best attraction? Barnum: For the mere tenth part of a dollar I will reveal before your very eyes the 1 inch tall princess

11:52 am · October 22, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

5 of 5 stars to Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi goodreads.com/review/show/36…

8:57 pm · October 21, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

RACE #dada #poetry i raced the river the river raced me to the sea i tripped over a boulder hurt my left shoulder the river ran by why not i? in triumphant swallow consumed by the sea alas, not to be

11:55 am · October 21, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

and truncated limbs together, and returned to the iron meshed interior bower, where the labor of three lifetimes awaited. The walls rewarded the return with a single drip of secreted sustenance. Fodon lapped at it greedily with a many fingered tongue. Existence continued.

11:49 am · October 20, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

to the wall surrounding the garden and peered over to admire the sheer drop to oblivion. For the briefest of moments, Fodon, for that was the inhabitant’s name, weighed the pros and cons of a leap to death. Cons still outweighed pros, and so Fodon sighed, tapped feelers

11:49 am · October 20, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

FODON #scifi A galaxy hosted a planet. The planet, awash with seas, boasted a single small continent. A lone city occupied the tip top of the geographical center of the continent, a great mountain shouldering high above the plains. The single inhabitant of the city stepped

11:49 am · October 20, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

PRINDELILAH HASTINGS #nonsense #poetry Prindelilah Hastings never was in sight. She hid all day under hay and crept out in the night. She always carried a jar of tar and a stick with which to write, ‘Prindelilah Hastings was here! Oh yes! That’s right!’

11:46 am · October 19, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

5 of 5 stars to The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman goodreads.com/review/show/36…

9:38 pm · October 18, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

gold foil. You pick it up and pop it open. A tiny cloud of green mist rises. You swoon, stagger, fall. You wake up under a dome of woven twigs. You hear a sigh from somewhere behind you. You turn your head to look. There she is. You die.

12:07 pm · October 18, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

cupboard which has never to your knowledge been opened until this minute when you open it. No library card, but perched alone on a single saucer is one of those plastic Easter eggs, a green one, normally used for containing a few jelly beans or some chocolate coins wrapped in

12:07 pm · October 18, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

THE LOST LIBRARY CARD #flashfiction You have lost your library card. Don’t go into the bedroom again. You have already searched it thoroughly. Try the kitchen. You know the card can’t possibly be there, but nevertheless, take a look. It isn’t, of course, not even in the high pic.twitter.com/yIN9FjzyAF

12:07 pm · October 18, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

hill. What did he see when he got to the top? He saw an exact reverse image of his town below. He stood face to face with himself.

11:49 am · October 17, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

Ted, for the first time ever, gazed out the window at the hill looming high over the shoulder of the hotel across the street. I wonder what’s over that hill, he thought. He left the store, destroying custom and habit. He passed around the hotel and climbed the

11:49 am · October 17, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

morning to Mabel passing by on the way to her milliner’s shop, The Clever Feather. Billy passed by on his burro, turning the same grin to Ted at the same time each and every day. Later, after selling a ball of twine to Marlene, as he had done each and every day at the same time,

11:49 am · October 17, 2020

Steve Shilstone

@steveshilstone

OVER THE HILL #flashfiction The town never changed. Each and every morning Ted opened the door to his store at 6 o’clock sharp and swept the dust from the boardwalk fronting his business out onto the dust of the street. He nodded the same greeting a minute later each and every

11:49 am · October 17, 2020