A letter, neatly typed, with government postage. “You are hereby called to serve your country.” He marries quickly, promising to return, alive. The trenches are wet and feces-filled. Ready-made graves. The wounded moan, their wounds festering. Rats lap at the seeping rot. The air sits still and cold, clinging to a soldier’s soul. Then, a … More World War I: Two Deaths
Paul Rousseau’s 100 word microfiction, “World War I: Two Deaths”, will appear in the third issue of The Centifictionist (Vol. 2, Issue 1, Spring/Summer 2021). Paul graciously answered a few brief questions for us. Read the interview below. 1. What inspired the story “World War I: Two Deaths”? The story came to me as I … More Microinterview: Paul Rousseau
I glance out the window. A man ambles about the playground, whirling the merry-go-round, dangling from the monkey bars. “Bobby, what is twenty-one divided by seven?” The doors slam with a harsh thud. His steps click on the tile floor. He pauses outside the room. I glimpse his face; it’s puckered and drips of sweat. … More Under the Desk
Paul Rousseau’s 100 word microfiction, “Under the Desk”, will appear in the second issue of The Centifictionist (Vol. 1, Issue 2, Fall/Winter 2020). Paul graciously answered a few brief questions for us. Read the interview below. 1. What inspired the story “Under the Desk”? I was watching the Brett Kavanaugh Senate hearings when he was … More Microinterview: Paul Rousseau
“It’s embarrassing, Mom.” “Then just sit out on the playground.” “You can’t, Mom, you have to go to the lunch room.” Richie is nine, and lives in a hollowed-out school bus that sits on a vacant lot hidden by trees and thick brush. He holds a beat-up Spiderman lunch box in his right hand as … More No One Knows
I take the Yellow Cab, never Uber, Uber is a Germanic word, and, well, right or wrong, it reminds me of the horrors of Auschwitz, and the Holocaust, and genocide, and death in “the showers,” and my parents, and on windless days—if I breathe deep enough—their pungent, burning flesh. Paul Rousseau: Semi-retired physician and writer, … More Uber
Paul Rousseau’s microfictions, “No One Knows”, and “Uber” will appear in the first issue of The Centifictionist (Vol. 1, Issue 1, Spring/Summer 2020). Paul graciously answered a few brief questions for us. Read the interview below. 1. What inspired the stories “No One Knows” and “Uber”? I was driving down a street and saw a … More Microinterview: Paul Rousseau
The Centifictionist 