New Microfiction by Marge Simon

It is our great pleasure to welcome back one of our regular contributors: Marge Simon. Marge is a writer/poet/illustrator whose work has appeared in venues such as Strange Horizons and Dreams & Nightmares, and she has won several Stokers for poetry collections. Today she returns with two pieces of microfiction although the first one bridges the border between fiction and prose poetry. You can find Marge at http://www.margesimon.com 


Beauty & the Beast: Postscript
 
Everything was true about this tale, except for the actual ending. When Beauty’s tears fell on the Beast’s claws, they softened, and when she kissed his cheek, the fur vanished like a receding tide. In a blink, her lips were on the mouth of a frog. 

But that’s okay, because she loved him, whatever he was. The only drawback being that the kiss of a frog is not quite as rewarding as the tongue of a Beast in certain places, not to mention – well, whatever you are thinking, you are probably right.


The Best of Times
 
The elders told of a time when citizens carried no guns. It was not a peaceful era; it was a time of great stress, boredom and unhappiness. There were too many people and so many products and games they craved for escape.  People argued over everything.
 
Today, we shudder to imagine such a situation. We can have all the products and games that we want. We never worry about anyone taking them away from us. We no longer have wars or disagreements about anything. And we can have as many guns as we want. True, we only have two bullets left. Yours …and mine.