Beyond the List of Available Networks by Tom Luckie

AllyGator

Allison set her bulky laptop on top of the blanket next to her and fell asleep. In her dream koala bears pointed the bow of an inflatable boat towards a garbage island and paddled with their paws. She prayed they wouldn’t make it there.

islanders_suck

“Fuck! I’m getting manhandled this week,” said Pete as he turned off the monitor and grabbed a beer from the fridge, the choir of condiments rattling as he slammed the door.
“I need a goalie,” he yelled down the hallway, to whatever roommate was listening.
“Do you really think that will save you?” one of them shouted back.
Pete walked back into his room, wondering whose voice it was, tapping the wood on each side of the doorway for good luck.

Tiff&Cyn

Tiffany bopped Cynthia on the head just hard enough to sink her posture.
“Ouch you wench,” Cynthia squealed.
“Get up! You’ve had your forty minutes. It’s my turn.”
“Forty-five minutes Mom said.”
“She also said she beat me in wii bowling, Mom is full of shit,” said Tiffany.
“I’m telling her you swore again.”
“I’ll give you ten extra minutes if you don’t.”
“Ok. Deal.”

hardpretzels!

Jamie attached his resume to the email, clicked send and turned the computer off. He looked out the window and noticed the snow had stopped. The crunchy scrapes of a shovel spoke from somewhere he couldn’t see. He remembered today was the day to bring the recyclables to the curb, it was almost garbage day again already.

129WestCommerce

Mike and Joe sat at their computers on opposite ends of the same table in their living room. They had been playing Call of Duty and passing the bong back and forth for nearly five hours. Occasionally, one of them would lean to the side of their giant monitor and say something. The other would also lean over, making eye contact, sometimes laughing. The bong steamed and bubbled like a blowhole, the smoke disappearing before it reached the ceiling.

Tom Luckie lives in Buffalo, New York. His fiction has appeared in Broken Pencil.