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| Issue 30: | Sept. 2025 |
| Microfiction: | 52 words |
By Guy Biederman
Butterfingers Bait
Betsy catches a rainbow trout.
Downstream, Ellis catches one, too.
They sit in the shade, sip lemonade, talk bait.
“Worms.”
“Salmon eggs.” Ellis smiles, reluctant to reveal his secret—Butterfingers on bread. “Sometimes.”
“Oh really. Not caviar?” says Betsy. “Because your rainbow’s still grinning from whatever last bite it swallowed.”
Guy Biederman
is the author of six books, including Translated from the Original: One-Inch Punch Fiction (Nomadic Press, 2022) and Nova Nights (Nomadic Press, 2021), both of which were acquired by Black Lawrence Press in June 2023; Edible Grace (KYSO Flash Press, 2019); and Soundings & Fathoms (Finishing Line Press).
His stories have appeared in many journals such as Bull, Carve, The Disappointed Housewife, The Ekphrastic Review, Flash Frontier, Flashback Fiction, great weather for Media, KYSO Flash, MacQueen’s Quinterly, Riddled with Arrows, and Exposition Review, where he was twice a Flash 405 winner. His story “Coyotes, Pelicans, & Prisoners” appears in Best Microfiction 2024 (nominated by Six Sentences). His work has recently received a Publisher’s Choice Award and an Editor’s Choice Award, and has been nominated for Best of The Net.
A former peace corps volunteer, gardener, and college creative-writing instructor, Guy lives on a houseboat with his wife, and walks the planks daily.
Author’s website: https://www.guybiederman.com/
Author’s blog: This Day Afloat: Reflections of Life on the Water
More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond
⚡ Meow of Now, a tribute to Pierre, beloved companion and writing buddy; in Issue 23 of MacQueen’s Quinterly aka MacQ (April 2024)
⚡ Precious Artifact Repairs, microfiction by Guy Biederman in MacQ-22 (February 2024); nominated by MacQ for Best Microfiction 2025
⚡ Quite, a prose poem by Biederman selected as winner of the “Triple-Q” Writing Challenge in Issue 11 of MacQ (January 2022); to hear him read this piece, see Recordings at his website.
⚡ Edible Grace: An e-Collection of 12 Micro-Prose in MacQ’s predecessor, KYSO Flash (Issue 12, Summer 2019); click on Next Page at bottom left of each piece to access the next one.
Edible Grace is also available in print and offers bonus content, including six additional micro-prose and five more photographs by the author, plus a pen-and-ink drawing by Tula Biederman.
⚡ The Lion Has Lost His Roar, a tribute to Little Bud (aka Cap’n Orange), from the Edible Grace e-collection described above
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