The Lost Age of Show-and-Tell
Poem Time drowns us like quicksand, the hourglass has a wide waist Eighteen years are reduced to memory, you grasp blindly for your vanished youth The little girl’s toothy grin is replaced by...
Author: Samuel J. Rosenthal
The Human Comedy: Dr. Hamster and the Medical Industrial Complex Empire
Short Story “Good morning, Dr. Hamster!” “Hi, Janice.” Dr. Hamster was out of breath. There had been construction on the GW Bridge again. “How was your weekend?” “Your 8:30 is here.” “But it’s not...
The Human Comedy: Surprise on the Subway
Short Story Today was the day. Oh, yes — today, he was going to do it! For seven years he had conducted their C train. Seven long years on that same, rat-infested track. Rush hours,...
The Human Comedy: Street Cleaning
Comedy Fiction Short Stories Marty McMichaels had two choices — the same two choices he had every time they came — and neither choice was a good one.It was Tuesday morning in Manhattan, and it...
What Do I Look Like to You?
Best Life Poems What did that mean just now? That glance, that alluring searching gaze Focused on me Or simply on some distant spot in the cosmos conveniently located in my eyes? Am...
The Human Comedy: The Afghani Waiter
Short Story Mark and Dana had never tried Afghani cuisine before. They weren’t sure they’d ever try it again, but their friends had recommended the place, which felt exactly like they supposed an Afghani restaurant was supposed to...
The Human Comedy: Small Change
Short Story The young woman felt for the subway beggar. She always felt for the subway beggars. Sometimes she gave, sometimes she didn’t. It depended on their appearance, their spiel, their perceived credibility …...
The Human Comedy: Video Games, Netflix, Pringles and Wine
Inspirational Short Story It was so easy to feel lost in this world. In this city. Eight million people, each of them feeling the need to succeed, to be important, to make it....
The Human Comedy: Taxi Tao 2
Short Story Dana got into the taxi. “Port Authority,” she told the driver. “Absolutely,” said the driver, a mid-30s man with an unmistakably non-native face and accent. “Where are you from?” Dana asked...
The Human Comedy: Snow Day
Short Satire The boy grabbed his sled. The blizzard was coming. He writhed into his Long Johns. He wriggled into his snowpants. He was so excited, he put his ski goggles on upside down....
The Human Comedy: Je Suis Claude
Short Story Claude walked along the banks of the Siene. His breath clouded in front of his face, ghosts in the early twilight. His gloved hands gripped the banister. His eyes found Notre Dame,...
The Human Comedy: A Visit from St. Nicholas (to North Korea), or: “The Interview Before Christmas”
Short Satirical Stories (Based on “A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore) ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through Pyongyang Not a civil liberty stirred; this was the wrong gang! The dissenters...
