6-minute Stories

 — Leaving the door ajar, she darted out in her slippers and bathrobe. Hugging the bag of Oreos , Christie grinned at her mother’s face in the window as she skipped past the door. Valerie J. Macon, a writer residing in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, finds poetry and prose woven into the fabric of everyday life. With six poetry collections to her name ( Shelf Life, Sleeping Rough, A String of...

 – “Oh, little sister, that’s enough out of you.” When a bully grabbed me in grade school, I kneed him and ran all the way home, overkill in this instance, but not unwarranted. Mary Clements Fisher celebrates her student and writer status in Northern California. Her writing unearths buried mad, muddled, and magical moments. She’s published in Quail Belle Magazine, Adanna Journal, Prometheus D...

– The change is unnerving. Lying on a chaise, brain numb and unrefreshed, I am confused by the unexpected difficulties of the day—of what to do next with an empty schedule in this now-unfamiliar place. Eloise Currie lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. This is her second piece accepted by the Personal Story Publishing Project. She has kept a journal for thirty years and uses it as material for short...

  – what would my family think about us living two years in central Africa? It seemed futile to buck these chaotic, insoluble forces buffeting Zaire. Richard (“Rick”) Davis retired from the Air Force in 1998 and lives in Elk Grove, California. He has an extensive professional writing history, including some non-fiction material published over the past 40 years. To transition to fiction, he st...

  – “How can you give him up? He seems devoted to you.” As far as I could see, a carpet of brown and black leaves provided perfect Airedale camouflage. Barbara Reese Yager, a lifelong dog rescuer, writes fiction and nonfiction. She is President of the Charlotte Writers Club and a member of the North Carolina Writers Network and the South Carolina Writers Association. Daniel Boone Press has pu...

– The stare-off begins. Puss-faces, Mom called us. A game of chicken, I think. Seven years older, decibels louder, she always won.  Anne Anthony tends to carry on conversations with characters inside her head when writing her stories. A few years back, she stopped shushing them, agreed to tell their stories, and they’ve all been happy ever since. She lives and writes in North Carolina. H...

– “Isn’t your dad like a cult leader?” I was approached by a caramel coyote, slipping out of a convertible Camaro. Willow Noelle Groskreutz is a creative writer based in Mooresville, North Carolina. In 2023, she self-published  Mundane Magic , a collection of Southern-inspired lyric essays about finding wonder in everyday places. Willow is a recipient of the 2025 Artist Support Grant from the...

 – I had a secret power—a newfound ally. I was a preadolescent boy lost in a, heretofore, unknown love spell magnified by the magical thinking of childhood. David Lusk is a retired consulting arborist/psychologist/writer living in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He has previously written several articles for the Winston-Salem Journal and the trade publication, Tree Care Industry Magazine. He l...

  – “Jane can’t ever know the truth.” The tide and wind pushed it ashore as surely as vengeance. Edward von Koenigseck has a 40-year background in technical publications. He is the author of two books - a college textbook T echnical Writing for Private Industry , and a memoir, Island Park,  and   has also published several short stories. His other activities have been providing 92 d...

 – Who does this?  … and as soon as my husband crept in the door, probably hoping for a scintilla of Norman Rockwell’s water colored scene-of-cooing-baby-at-the-hearth-slurping-dimpled-fist while the smell of home cooked fill-in-the-blank danced like fat motes and fairy dust, … A native fish-taco-loving San Diegan, Jo McElroy Senecal spent decades on the East Coast, blending professional...

 – DIG! DIG! FLY! FLY! I ordered them to come back with a spoon. They didn’t know why, but I was the oldest. Vicki Easterly, a retired disability advocate, lives in Frankfort, Kentucky. Several stories have appeared in prior PSPP anthologies. Her short story, “Hallie Holcomb’s Hollow,” published by the UK Carnegie Press, is based on a composite of her sweet clients. Her first book, Miracles i...

– In the cold twilight above the town, he sang it to himself. The aftermath story that emerged from the rumors and boasting was that there was a girl at the center of it. Fascinated with every big and little thing, Jamie Cheshire has long been an avid student of design and structure. Having worked together with giants, he has had the extreme good fortune to practice his craft for most of the last...

Great expectations gone awry—by surprise, short-sightedness, and trickery That’s why we have stories to tell. Listen every Wednesday and weekend for new stories from the 12th anthology of the Personal Story Publishing Project. Read all the stories in each book, all available under “Books and Dvds” at RandellJones.com .

– I was now going somewhere; out of there, for sure. I must have forgotten that gravity is a thing. Jeanne VanBuren lives in Winston Salem, North Carolina--by way of Chesapeake, Pittsburgh, Santa Cruz, and Austin—where she is a local crafter and storyteller. As a member of North Carolina Writers Network, this story is a spark towards more memories being written and edited as “Boy Mom of Five,” “Da...

 – Forty miles to spare We followed our well-worn route, enjoying the new car smell, feeling like The Jetsons. Lisa Williams Kline is the author of two award-winning novels for adults,  Between the Sky and the Sea  and  Ladies’ Day,  as well as an essay collection entitled  The Ruby Mirror  and a short story collection entitled  Take Me . She lives in Davids...

 – Not what we expected Hell-bound for a summer of adventure in France, we didn’t care . David Collins holds a Ph. D. in English from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and taught English/Creative Writing for forty years.  His work has appeared in numerous journals, reviews, magazines, and newspapers. His first full-length book, Accidental Activists: Mark Phariss, Vic Holmes, and Their...

 – Should I tell my mother what I decided to do? A 5-year-old, less than one meter tall, I slipped through the turnstile without being noticed. Akira Odani lives in the ancient city of St. Augustine, Florida. He belongs to Taste Life Twice Writers and the Florida Writers Association. Born in Tokyo, he had written extensively for the Japanese media. Still, more recently, his interest has turne...

– I had a layover in Elmira, New York—six hours long. Warblers, whistlers, and trillers sang. Joe and Maybe Dave knew when not to talk, too, when beauty itself was the conversation. Maureen Ryan Griffin has loved words and stories since her “Cat in the Hat” days and leads writing workshops and retreats ( www. WordPlayNow.com ). She’s published in numerous literary journals and will soon appear in...

  — You durn fool Waves of hot lava washed down my throat, past my lungs, and hit my stomach like an acid avalanche. By day, Nick Sipe works as a mild-mannered IT manager for a Fortune 150 company. By night, he mostly recovers from the workday, but occasionally finds time to write. He enjoys writing Twilight Zone-style short stories, mostly horror and light sci-fi. Nick is currently shopping...

  – “Quick! Let's get the oars!” . Traveling fast, the tanker’s bow tossed large white-capped waves. Edward von Koenigseck, relocated from Florida, resides in Ticonderoga NY. Having a 40-year career in Technical Publications, he also published two books ( Technical Writing for Private Industry and Island Park, a Memoir, and four short stories. He created 92 one-hour lectures on biblical histo...

– “Do not let it get to the pond. It will eat our fish!” My Ninja Turtle dance began in the pouring rain, my umbrella in one hand and the shovel in the other. Sondra Edwards, wife, mother of two, grandmother of five, children's minister, and music educator, lives in the mountains of Boone, North Carolina. Now retired, she dabbles in visual arts and creative writing. For the past four years, she ha...

 – He called me scaredy pants. Move, stop, and swing. Over and over. David Inserra lives on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina with his wife Ellen Titus and their dog, Mindy. David’s most recent work appears in the PSPP release, Now or Never . He is a member of the Island Writers Network and works at the local Unitarian Church. David’s first novel, a speculative thriller titled “In Your Own B...

 — As I hit the water, I glanced back over my shoulder. Instead, they chose to wade through the calf-deep mud of a marsh toward Parkersburg. After a career teaching mathematics in Iowa, Jim retired to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, where he loves exploring the beach and writing stories, both fiction and nonfiction. His first novel, Freedom Run drew rave reviews. He is presently working w...

 – “Don’t mind him. He’s just crotchety like that.” You get to have sway in the classroom and fix your students with a beetle-browed visage. Award-winning author Bob Amason is a retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and college professor. A Florida Writer’s Association member, Bob writes under his pen name, Frank A. Mason. His Journeyman Chronicles series of American Revolutionary War novel...

 – “How long have you been rock climbing?” The professor praised my speech and raved about my clever visual aid. Alison Rice Bruster comes from a long line of women who love the written word. The granddaughter of a librarian, daughter of an English teacher, and sister of a novelist, she was destined to be an avid reader and writer. After a career spent finding the voices of senior business ex...