Routine

We chatted about

Rheumatoid arthritis, bunions,

Bone density, and uric acid build-up

We discussed our pill organizers,

Statins, and blood thinners

We did this daily, on our morning walk

Two neighbors for forty-plus years

With our canes, knee braces, and

Orthopedic sneakers

Meeting out front on Maple Lane

At seven a.m. sharp

Amongst it all

Not to complain or kvetch, as you used

To say

But to remind ourselves

Of past pain triumphed

To remember that in a world

Filled with fight

To age at all

Was to age gracefully

Mathieu Cailler is the author of seven books: a novel, two short story collections, two volumes of poetry, and two children’s titles. His stories, poems, and essays have been featured in over one hundred publications such as Wigleaf, the Saturday Evening Post, and the Los Angeles Times. Cailler has garnered numerous awards for his writing, including a Pushcart Prize; a Readers’ Favorite Award; and accolades from the Paris, Los Angeles, and New England Book Festivals. Connect with him on social media @writesfromla or visit mathieucailler.com.

New dawn

You stay in bed because stories are about people who aren’t smart enough to stay out of trouble, and you dream of the past, because not only was the past beautiful, but it was also safe, now that

you look at the clouds that were once beautiful because you believed, only when you look up lately, you see vastness, like yes, there is infinity and beauty, but you aren’t part of it and that hurts, so you

live a secret life inside your head nobody knows about, because you mythologize time, time that gets so weird with time, like you think your twenties were ten years ago, then you think the time

you thought your twenties were ten years ago is ten years ago, and you kind of expected this, but also you didn’t, and you are back in love when the alarm rings, and you glow, you glow, you glow,

you glow like a new dawn.

Mileva Anastasiadou is a neurologist, from Athens, Greece and the author of "Christmas People" and "We Fade With Time" by Alien Buddha Press. A Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best Microfiction and Best Small Fictions nominated writer, her work has been selected for the Best Microfiction anthology 2024 and Wigleaf Top 50 and can be found in many journals, such as the Chestnut Review, New World Writing, trampset, and others.

The Mother Figure in Every Story

She puts on her blue coat, so out of fashion, and she is blue too, like blue is the sky, the sea, the sadness. Things change fast and she should quit, only she can’t. She is the relic of an old world, in which people walked down the aisles smoking in grocery stores. She’s overwhelmed, thinking of lighting another cigarette, only she can barely breathe.

He puts on his red hat, so old and worn out, and he is red too, like red is fire, power, despair. Things change fast and he should quit, only he can’t. He is the relic of an old world, in which piles of dirty clothes keep growing, growing, growing, they hide the view, and he can’t clean. He’s overwhelmed, thinking of setting the house on fire and get a new one, only he can’t afford to.

They can’t keep up but then they meet. They reach for a soothing power within but they find nothing. They have run out of mother figures who would caress their hair and hold their hand and stand beside them, when things go wrong, they have run out of people to clean their mess, untangle the yarn, because they’re old, their world is dying, but they’re still here, alone.

They find each other and then they mingle, they are the relics of worlds forgotten, but when they mix, they come in new colors, they make a world that fits them, that feels comforting, because they realize that there is a mother figure in every story, it could be a cigarette, the opposite of life force, the alluring call of oblivion, or it could be a person, it could be love, when blue and red mix and make violet, and together they’re majestic and magic and pure and less alone.

Mileva Anastasiadou is a neurologist, from Athens, Greece and the author of "Christmas People" and "We Fade With Time" by Alien Buddha Press. A Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best Microfiction and Best Small Fictions nominated writer, her work has been selected for the Best Microfiction anthology 2024 and Wigleaf Top 50 and can be found in many journals, such as the Chestnut Review, New World Writing, trampset, and others.