Lost Balloon
@lostballoon.bsky.social
Lost Balloon is a literary magazine that published flash fiction, flash nonfiction, and prose poetry.
Another terrific one from @marioaliberto3.bsky.social in @lostballoon.bsky.social this time. About free karate lessons, holding down work, anger management Benny is a great character and a brilliant ending Counting to Ten in Japanese
You are going to love our new story by @marioaliberto3.bsky.social! Check out “Counting to Ten in Japanese.” lost-balloon.com/2026/07/15/c...
Hey #flashlit and #flashfiction people! @lostballoon.bsky.social is open through August 7! Submit here: lost-balloon.com/submit/ (cc @chillsubs.bsky.social)
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We have a gorgeous new piece of nonfiction today from Heather Emmanuel! Check out “to unfold.” lost-balloon.com/2026/07/29/t...
to unfold by Heather Emmanuel
Fabric does what it’s told if you’re patient, my mother says. She irons sitting down, in the corner of the living room with her back to the garden. She holds up the tumble-dried garment…
lost-balloon.com
We have a great new piece today from Joshua Gottlieb-Miller! Check out “When a Fire Breaks Out…” lost-balloon.com/2026/07/22/w...
When a Fire Breaks Out We Talk of Its Causes and Effects, Imagining that the Fire Occurred Somewhere Between the Two by Joshua Gottlieb-Miller
Shawna says she’s always looking for a person’s single lowest moment, and you thought to mention your husband is in love with another woman, but not that, how you’d managed to think about anything …
lost-balloon.com
Do you like stories with Karate? How about terrible managers and terrible fathers? Check this out today in @lostballoon.bsky.social 👇👇👇
You are going to love our new story by @marioaliberto3.bsky.social! Check out “Counting to Ten in Japanese.” lost-balloon.com/2026/07/15/c...
You are going to love our new story by @marioaliberto3.bsky.social! Check out “Counting to Ten in Japanese.” lost-balloon.com/2026/07/15/c...
Counting to Ten in Japanese by Mario Aliberto III
Ichi, ni, san, shi… Benny’s only been a Wal-Mart stockboy a couple of weeks, part time after school, and he’s already managed to screw it up. He grinds his teeth, literally bites his tongue, listen…
lost-balloon.com
Don't sleep on this. Beautiful piece by @cwtellstales.bsky.social in @lostballoon.bsky.social 10/10 would recommend
In case you missed it!
Huge thanks to @chelsvoulgares.bsky.social and the @lostballoon.bsky.social team for giving this piece the perfect home! This story was born in a @tommydeanwriter.bsky.social workshop 🙂
We have a great new story today from @cwtellstales.bsky.social! Check out “Uhura Among the Stars.” lost-balloon.com/2026/07/08/u...
"One child said Charlotte must have gone away in a spaceship like Uhura. One said she had gotten married to Spock." I love this brilliant piece of writing by @cwtellstales.bsky.social in @lostballoon.bsky.social 💙💙💙 lost-balloon.com/2026/07/08/u...
Uhura Among the Stars by Claudia Wair
Charlotte babysat her three young cousins after school until their parents got home from work. She was only 16, but to the children, she was a grown-up. She made them play quietly while she did her…
lost-balloon.com
We have a great new story today from @cwtellstales.bsky.social! Check out “Uhura Among the Stars.” lost-balloon.com/2026/07/08/u...
Uhura Among the Stars by Claudia Wair
Charlotte babysat her three young cousins after school until their parents got home from work. She was only 16, but to the children, she was a grown-up. She made them play quietly while she did her…
lost-balloon.com
Honored to have my story "The Ace of Teeth" on the @wigleaf.bsky.social long list. Thanks to the judges and the Wigleaf Team. And thanks to @lostballoon.bsky.social for publishing this. lost-balloon.com/2025/06/18/t...
The Ace of Teeth by Claudia Monpere
My brother and I attempt awkward conversation at a Chinese restaurant near the dive motel where he lives. I try not to stare at his teeth: gray, chipped, missing. Dark, square caves in his mouth. H…
lost-balloon.com
Clang the bells! The @wigleaf.bsky.social Long List and Top 50 list is up www.wigleaf.com.🎈 Special thanks to Guest Selecting Editor, @andrewporter01.bsky.social. Gratitude also to our team who spent countless hours reading. And big 🙏 to Scott Garson without whom this list wouldn't exist! 🌷🌷
Clang the bells! The @wigleaf.bsky.social Long List and Top 50 list is up www.wigleaf.com.🎈 Special thanks to Guest Selecting Editor, @andrewporter01.bsky.social. Gratitude also to our team who spent countless hours reading. And big 🙏 to Scott Garson without whom this list wouldn't exist! 🌷🌷
w i g l e a f : (very) short fiction
An online journal of very short fictions -- under 1000 words.
wigleaf.com
Congratulations to everyone on the @wigleaf.bsky.social Top 50 and longlist and a special shoutout to @claudiamonpere.bsky.social, Nicole Desjardins Gowdy, and Carol M. Quinn for their Lost Balloon pieces. And an extra special hurrah for our Assistant Editor @madelineanthes.bsky.social!
"She tells herself this is the cycle of life." I love this piece of writing by @francinewitte.bsky.social in @lostballoon.bsky.social 💙💙💙
It’s Wednesday! That means new work by return contributor @francinewitte.bsky.social! Check out “Cycle of Life.” lost-balloon.com/2026/06/03/c...
“Maybe he will love me again, she thinks. She wants to think. But a man is not a garden, a man is not a shoot.” @francinewitte.bsky.social in @lostballoon.bsky.social lost-balloon.com/2026/06/03/c...
Cycle of Life by Francine Witte
A curl of a woman pouring a curl of water onto a garden patch. A square yard of soil that yields up some tiny shoots. Seed, then plant, then seed again. She tells herself this is the cycle of life.…
lost-balloon.com
It’s Wednesday! That means new work by return contributor @francinewitte.bsky.social! Check out “Cycle of Life.” lost-balloon.com/2026/06/03/c...
Cycle of Life by Francine Witte
A curl of a woman pouring a curl of water onto a garden patch. A square yard of soil that yields up some tiny shoots. Seed, then plant, then seed again. She tells herself this is the cycle of life.…
lost-balloon.com