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50_word_stories_feed) wrote2025-12-14 09:23 pm
The story of the week for December 8 to 12 is…
Holiday cards, she thinks icily… by Joanna Norland
and
Feud by Adrian L. Cook
cornell_daily_haiku_feed) wrote2025-12-14 08:35 amclosed casket
the questions I should
have asked
merriamwebster_feed) wrote2025-12-14 12:00 amMerriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 14, 2025 is:
multitudinous • \mul-tuh-TOO-duh-nus\ • adjective
Multitudinous is a formal word with meanings that relate to multitudes. It can mean “existing in a great multitude”—that is, “very many”; or “including a multitude of individuals”; or “existing in or consisting of innumerable elements or aspects.”
// The two old friends reminisced about the multitudinous ways in which their lives had changed.
// The author’s appearance is expected to attract a multitudinous gathering that will fill the auditorium.
Examples:
“Launched as Holton’s artistic inquiry into his own Chinese heritage, the project has evolved into a profound examination of family dynamics, migration, and cultural hybridity in contemporary New York, where the American identity is multitudinous.” — Natasha Gural, Forbes, 11 June 2025
Did you know?
“I am large, I contain multitudes.” So wrote Walt Whitman in his most celebrated poem, “Song of Myself.” He was expressing his ability to hold within himself contradictory statements, facets, opinions, beliefs, etc. Another, if less poetic, way of saying “I contain multitudes” might be “I am multitudinous,” using the sense of that five-syllable word meaning “existing in or consisting of innumerable elements or aspects.” Multitudinous doesn’t have a lot of meanings—three to be exact—but each one concerns, well, a lot. In addition to serving Whitmanesque purposes as noted above, multitudinous is the kind of highly expressive word that you can rely upon when you want something a little more emphatic than plain old numerous, as in “multitudinous possibilities.” Lastly, its original sense—still in use today—is a synonym of populous meaning “including a multitude of individuals,” as in “the multitudinous city.”
cornell_daily_haiku_feed) wrote2025-12-13 08:34 amdiner window
the hostess becomes
a vermeer
merriamwebster_feed) wrote2025-12-13 12:00 amMerriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 13, 2025 is:
alleviate • \uh-LEE-vee-ayt\ • verb
To alleviate something is to make it less painful, difficult, or severe. Alleviate can also mean "to partially remove or correct."
// There's no cure for the common cold, but there are various treatments that may alleviate some of the symptoms.
// The new tunnel should alleviate traffic congestion on the bridge.
Examples:
"The funds are meant to alleviate monetary barriers and enhance the fashion industry's talent pipeline." — Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 30 Oct. 2025
Did you know?
Now for a bit of light reading. Alleviate comes from Latin levis, meaning "having little weight." (Levis also gave rise to the English adjective light as in "not heavy.") In its early days during the 16th century, alleviate could mean both "to cause (something) to have less weight" or "to make (something) more tolerable." The literal "make lighter" sense is no longer used, and today only the "relieve, lessen" sense remains. Incidentally, not only is alleviate a synonym of relieve, it's also a cousin: relieve comes from Latin levare ("to raise"), which in turn comes from levis.
50_word_stories_feed) wrote2025-12-12 05:00 pmIt is a truth universally acknowledged that a human being of legal age, acceptable mental well-being, good physical shape, in possession of a few relatives and a living space with the potential to accommodate a food bowl, a toilet, and a scratching post, must be in want of a cat.
Olena Zheldak was born on November 13, 1981, in Ukraine. After February 24, 2022, having personally survived Russia’s full-scale invasion, she wrote and self-published an autobiographical wartime narrative, “From Irpin with L̶o̶v̶e̶ Pain,” and collaborated with the British author Paul White by writing a lead story for his new edition of “Life in the War Zone.” In 2025, her essay, “Life Interrupted. Resumed. Ended.” was published in the 195 Essays Project by 2084.
50_word_stories_feed) wrote2025-12-12 11:00 amCheers erupted behind us as we walked home. People flooded the streets, like birds soaring out of a toppled cage.
My mother flew with them then, singing songs of rebellion and hope.
Years later, she still sings the same songs, but fainter, like a caged songbird mourning the open sky.
Sarah Nassar is a young writer from Egypt trying to figure out adult life (she just graduated) and write at the same time. Her work has been previously published on 50-Word Stories, Spillwords.com and Literary Cocktail Magazine.
cornell_daily_haiku_feed) wrote2025-12-12 08:33 amtall oak
the son I could
have been
merriamwebster_feed) wrote2025-12-12 12:00 amMerriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 12, 2025 is:
waggish • \WAG-ish\ • adjective
Waggish describes someone who is silly and playful, and especially someone who displays a mischievous sense of humor. The word can also describe things that such a person might do or possess.
// He had a waggish disposition that could irk adults but typically delighted children.
// She denied the prank but did so with a waggish smirk that didn't match her disavowal.
Examples:
“[Patricia] Lockwood began her writing life quietly, as a poet. She found her first major audience on Twitter, posting self-proclaimed ‘absurdities’ ... that quickly came to define the medium’s zany, waggish ethos ...” — Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2025
Did you know?
One who is waggish acts like a wag. What, then, is a wag? It has nothing to do with a dog’s tail; in this case a wag is a clever person prone to joking. Though light-hearted in its use and meaning, the probable source of this particular wag is grim: it is thought to be short for waghalter, an obsolete English word that translates as gallows bird, a gallows bird being someone thought to be deserving of hanging (wag being the familiar wag having to do with movement, and halter referring to a noose). Despite its gloomy origins, waggish is now often associated with humor and playfulness—a wag is a joker, and waggery is merriment or practical joking. Waggish can describe the prank itself as well as the prankster type; the class clown might be said to have a “waggish disposition” or be prone to “waggish antics.”
50_word_stories_feed) wrote2025-12-11 05:00 pmOne husband
One son
One daughter-in-law
One granddaughter, married
Three great-grandchildren
One grandson married
One grandson married
One granddaughter married
Five grandchildren too young to marry
Hug, hugs, hugs
Talk, talk, talk
Laundry, laundry, laundry
Chicken, potatoes, broccoli
Apples, pears, oranges
Long table
Lots of chairs
I, an only child
Miriam Stein is a social worker, advocacy consultant, and author of Make Your Voice Matter With Lawmakers: No Experience Necessary. Her writings have appeared in local and national publications, including 50wordstories.com. See more at makeyourvoicematter.com.
50_word_stories_feed) wrote2025-12-11 11:00 amI wake again in the night and you’re not here. Get up and read a bit, take some aspirin, stretch, and go back to bed. I change positions and turn the pillow over for the cool side and change positions again. Dreams evade me and still you are not here.
After decades of nattering on about moving abroad, Ed Walker finally retired and is currently living in Catalunya, Spain. His work can be found in 50-Word Stories, The Arcanist, Blink-Ink and elsewhere.
cornell_daily_haiku_feed) wrote2025-12-11 08:30 amfilmstrip flutter the white light at the end of the
merriamwebster_feed) wrote2025-12-11 12:00 amMerriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 11, 2025 is:
leviathan • \luh-VYE-uh-thun\ • noun
Leviathan is a word with literary flair that can refer broadly to something very large and powerful, or more narrowly to a large sea animal, or a totalitarian state having a vast bureaucracy.
// Towering leviathans of the forest, giant sequoias often reach heights of more than 200 feet.
Examples:
“These are dim days for the leviathan merchants. The smart whaling families have diversified and will hang onto their wealth for years to come. ... The less smart, those convulsed by the strange desire to continue doing what had always been done, who consider it a divinely issued directive to rid the waves of great fish, now face a problem: the Atlantic whale that built their houses and ships has seemingly wised up ...” — Ethan Rutherford, North Sun, or The Voyage of the Whaleship Esther: A Novel, 2025
Did you know?
Old Testament references to a huge sea monster, Leviathan (in Hebrew, Liwyāthān), are thought to have been inspired by an ancient myth in which the god Baal slays a multiheaded sea monster. Leviathan appears in the Book of Psalms as a sea serpent that is killed by God and then given as food to creatures in the wilderness, and it is mentioned in the Book of Job as well. After making a splash in English in the 1300s, the word Leviathan began to be used, capitalized and uncapitalized, for enormous sea creatures both imagined and real—including as a synonym of whale over 100 times in Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, as in “ere the Pequod’s weedy hull rolls side by side with the barnacled hulls of the leviathan.” Today, leviathan can be used for anything large and powerful, from ships to corporations.
50_word_stories_feed) wrote2025-12-10 05:00 pm“You said you’d do it. Do it!” Patty demanded.
First, Tanner stared at the mallard’s smooth, storm cloud body as the buoyant bird moved peacefully atop the stream. Then at its metallic green head – too exotic for grey Nova Scotia.
Patty offered the rock with urgency and repeated, “Do it!”
Joe Couture is a writer living in rural Nova Scotia. He writes for his health. If you want to connect with him, try here: @rjcouture.bsky.social.
sfwa_feed) wrote2025-12-10 05:30 pm
Welcome to the December edition of the SFWA Market Report.
Please note: Inclusion of any venue in this report does not indicate an official endorsement by SFWA. Those markets included on this list pay at least $0.08/word USD in at least one category of fiction. This compilation is not exhaustive of all publication opportunities that pay our recommended minimum professional rate. Additionally, SFWA adheres to our DEI Policy when making selections for this report. We strongly encourage writers to closely review all contracts and consult our resources on best contract practices.
Adventitious (Upcoming)
Otherside (Reprints)
Apex Magazine
Asimov Press
Baffling Magazine (Recently Opened)
Beneath Ceaseless Skies
Book Worms
Clarkesworld Magazine
Crepuscular Magazine
Escape Pod
Factor Four Magazine
Fantabulosa! (Recently Opened)
Flame Tree Fiction Newsletter
Gavagai
Infinite Horrors
Infinite Worlds
Liquid Silver: An Anthology of Sci Fi and Fantasy by Sex Workers
More Alternative Liberties
Planet Scumm
Plott Hound Magazine (Recently Opened)
PodCastle
Protocolized
Samovar
Strange Horizons
The Daily Tomorrow
The Deadlands (Recently Opened)
Torch Literary Arts
Uncharted Magazine
Unidentified Funny Objects Anthology Series (Recently Opened)
Utopia Science Fiction
Anomaly
Fantasy Magazine (Permanent)
Flame Tree Publishing – Ghost Lights (Permanent)
Gilgamesh (Permanent)
Haven Spec Magazine
Helen of Troy (Permanent)
khoréo magazine (khoreo)
Night Shades
Of Blood & Petals (Permanent)
Small Wonders
Strange Pilgrims
The Tarot of Love (Permanent)
These Dreaming Hills (Permanent)
“Folk Tales” / “Faux Trails” / “Fox Tails” Contest
Apex Monthly Flash Fiction Contest
“Folk Tales” / “Faux Trails” / “Fox Tails” Contest‘s Submission Window ends soon.
Anomaly‘s Submission Window begins and ends soon.
Apex Monthly Flash Fiction Contest‘s Submission Window ends soon.
Apex Monthly Flash Fiction Contest‘s Submission Window begins soon.
Baffling Magazine‘s Submission window ends soon.
Book Worms temporarily closes soon.
Fantabulosa!‘s Limited Demographic Submission Window: trans and BIPOC authors ends soon.
Haven Spec Magazine‘s Limited demographic submission window: authors of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and other underrepresented groups begins soon.
Liquid Silver: An Anthology of Sci Fi and Fantasy by Sex Workers permanently closes soon.
More Alternative Liberties permanently closes soon.
Mysterion‘s Submission Window begins soon.
Otherside (Originals)‘s Submission Window begins soon.
Plott Hound Magazine‘s Submission Window ends soon.
The Deadlands‘s Submission Window ends soon.
Three-Lobed Burning Eye‘s Submission Window begins soon.
Unidentified Funny Objects Anthology Series‘s Submission Window ends soon.
The SFWA Market Report is compiled by David Steffen, editor of Diabolical Plots and The Long List Anthology series, and administrator and co-founder of the Submission Grinder. The Long List Anthology Volume 9 print book is now available on Amazon! You can support Diabolical Plots and the Submission Grinder on PayPal or Patreon or by buying books or merch.
The post SFWA Market Report For December appeared first on SFWA - The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association.
pat_wrede_pcw_wp_feed) wrote2025-12-10 12:00 pm50_word_stories_feed) wrote2025-12-10 11:00 amPoor taste? Actually, the flavor of our billionaire sirloin is quite rich. Served with too much butter and a greedy pinch of salt.
Inhumane? All our billionaires are free-range, able to travel where they please in private jets. None of them pay taxes, lest the meat turn gamey.
Bon appetit.
Parker Davis is a non-billionaire and a proponent for ethical agriculture. He feels particularly vicious when hungry.
cornell_daily_haiku_feed) wrote2025-12-10 08:15 ambaby’s breath —
we always thought
we’d have more time
