– Who does this?

 … and as soon as my husband crept in the door, probably hoping for a scintilla of Norman Rockwell’s water colored scene-of-cooing-baby-at-the-hearth-slurping-dimpled-fist while the smell of home cooked fill-in-the-blank danced like fat motes and fairy dust, …

A native fish-taco-loving San Diegan, Jo McElroy Senecal spent decades on the East Coast, blending professional stage and clown credits with various roles at magical powerhouses like The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp and The Big Apple Circus Clown Care (now Healthy Humor). Her NYTimes article hints at her passion for pediatric palliative care, which Jo continues to do along with adult hospice care in Charleston, South Carolina. Jo writes with the inimitable Lunasix and bows to the steady stream of spirits that yodel in her heart and soul.

 – DIG! DIG! FLY! FLY!

I ordered them to come back with a spoon. They didn’t know why, but I was the oldest.

Vicki Easterly, a retired disability advocate, lives in Frankfort, Kentucky. Several stories have appeared in prior PSPP anthologies. Her short story, “Hallie Holcomb’s Hollow,” published by the UK Carnegie Press, is based on a composite of her sweet clients. Her first book, Miracles in the Mundane, was selected for the annual Kentucky Book Festival. Calling on her days as a young mother, she is working on a children’s book series. She continues to write memoirs and poetry. Vicki enjoys playing with her granddaughters and acting in community theatre. She vows to never grow up.

– In the cold twilight above the town, he sang it to himself.

The aftermath story that emerged from the rumors and boasting was that there was a girl at the center of it.

Fascinated with every big and little thing, Jamie Cheshire has long been an avid student of design and structure. Having worked together with giants, he has had the extreme good fortune to practice his craft for most of the last four decades and has seen his work appear nationally and in several countries on three continents. He lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with his beloved feral, hippie-chick wife, their three dogs and two cats. Deeply committed to the ordinary, he is constantly searching for a way to describe it.

Great expectations gone awry—by surprise, short-sightedness, and trickery

That’s why we have stories to tell.

Listen every Wednesday and weekend for new stories from the 12th anthology of the Personal Story Publishing Project.

Read all the stories in each book, all available under “Books and Dvds” at RandellJones.com .

– I was now going somewhere; out of there, for sure. I must have forgotten that gravity is a thing.

Jeanne VanBuren lives in Winston Salem, North Carolina--by way of Chesapeake, Pittsburgh, Santa Cruz, and Austin—where she is a local crafter and storyteller. As a member of North Carolina Writers Network, this story is a spark towards more memories being written and edited as “Boy Mom of Five,” “Dating Escapades” over 38 years, and “Growing up in a Crowd” of 12 siblings. Her annual Christmas writings, enjoyed by friends and family over 20 years, might just include the news of an action screenplay for her celebrity crush Jason Statham. She says we all have a story in us, get it out there!

 – Forty miles to spare

We followed our well-worn route, enjoying the new car smell, feeling like The Jetsons.

Lisa Williams Kline is the author of two award-winning novels for adults, Between the Sky and the Sea and Ladies’ Day, as well as an essay collection entitled The Ruby Mirror and a short story collection entitled Take Me. She lives in Davidson with her veterinarian husband, a cat who can open doors, and a sweet chihuahua who has played Bruiser Woods in Legally Blonde: The Musical.

 – Not what we expected

Hell-bound for a summer of adventure in France, we didn’t care.

David Collins holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and taught English/Creative Writing for forty years.  His work has appeared in numerous journals, reviews, magazines, and newspapers. His first full-length book, Accidental Activists: Mark Phariss, Vic Holmes, and Their Fight for Marriage Equality in Texas, won the Mayborn Award for Excellence in Nonfiction in 2016, published in 2017 by the University of North Texas Press.

David is the immediate-past president of Charlotte Writers Club and makes his home in Pineville, North Carolina with his wife, Jean, and their rambunctious Labrador retriever pup.

 – Should I tell my mother what I decided to do?

A 5-year-old, less than one meter tall, I slipped through the turnstile without being noticed.

Akira Odani lives in the ancient city of St. Augustine, Florida. He belongs to Taste Life Twice Writers and the Florida Writers Association. Born in Tokyo, he had written extensively for the Japanese media. Still, more recently, his interest has turned to writing in English and subjects related to his experiences interacting with the two cultures. Some of his work has appeared in the pages of FWA anthologies, The Weekly Avocet, PSPP, Twists and Turns, Lost & Found, Sooner or Later, and Now or Never. He stays active, meditating, swimming, and playing pickleball.

– I had a layover in Elmira, New York—six hours long.

Warblers, whistlers, and trillers sang. Joe and Maybe Dave knew when not to talk, too, when beauty itself was the conversation.

Maureen Ryan Griffin has loved words and stories since her “Cat in the Hat” days and leads writing workshops and retreats (www.WordPlayNow.com). She’s published in numerous literary journals and will soon appear in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miracles, Angels and Messages from Heaven. Her books include Ten Thousand Cicadas Can’t Be Wrong (poetry); Spinning Words into Gold (writing guide); How Do I Say Goodbye: A Companion in Grieving, Healing, and Gratitude, and a daily journal practice, TAG, I’M IT! She and her husband, Richard, live in Charlotte, NC.

 — You durn fool

Waves of hot lava washed down my throat, past my lungs, and hit my stomach like an acid avalanche.

By day, Nick Sipe works as a mild-mannered IT manager for a Fortune 150 company. By night, he mostly recovers from the workday, but occasionally finds time to write. He enjoys writing Twilight Zone-style short stories, mostly horror and light sci-fi. Nick is currently shopping his debut novel, “Midnight Springs,” to literary agents. “Midnight Springs” is the first in a planned horror-Western series that sends classic monsters (think Frankenstein, Van Helsing, the Wolfman) to the Wild West to tangle with their American counterparts (think witches, the Headless Horseman, the Wendigo). Nick live in Gastonia, North Carolina. He is a member of Charlotte Writers Club.