63 writers take on Fifteen …
to be published late April 2026
to return to Fifteen in the Store, click here
scroll down for tastes …
Those heady days are in the distant past and / what became of my trusty bike I no longer / recall; from Western Flyer by Howard Brown
Jordan may not have noticed, he had other things to occupy him, he did not particularly care about Blanc’s affairs, they were Blanc’s affairs and Blanc paid faithfully and tipped well. from Room 15 by Townsend Walker
Although surrounded by my parents’ “gang” of European war refugees and assorted creatives, I had no sibling confidante. from Acquiescence by Karel Fontaine
He had charisma, there was no denying that, as well as an engaging smile and a cheeky manner. How could I compete? from Never Ever by Christine Reeves
15 years ago, I had no money. from 15 Years by Joy Nevin Axelson
Who could argue against it? You too / would have grieved if you had known. from April 15, 2019 by William Derge
Government economies meant the education sector was decimated, leaving only a couple of exhausted teachers hanging on waiting for their pensions. from The Return of the Native by Tony Warner
The group stands back with a cheer, sneering at gravity as they pant. from Freedom Carousel by Duncan Berce
I watched Battlestar Galactica in the theatre / Then ran home, I didn’t even breathe hard … from When I Was Fifteen by Marc Janssen
And sometimes, she imagined it was she who had Alzheimer’s, and not him. from Just before light by Ruth Powell
Gathered neighbours gossiping, shooing children back inside, / firetrucks leaving with red blue lights flashing … from The Last Visit by Rob McKinnon
Next to him Fluffy began purring / Fifteen years old this year / His companion for each of them … from Fluffy by James Bates
… and Mon Ami, another cat, / who was flattened by a speeding car, / in front of my home. from The Lost List by Diana Raab
The sun is strong today, but I am sitting in the shade of a giant egg, so I am okay. from Checkpoint Fifteen by Flemming George
The only reason I soon started to relax a bit was that I had found where the old comic books were as well as the magazines. from One That Doesn’t Belong by John Kujawski
For the first several weeks I had a consistent, pounding headache, and it wasn’t until somewhere around week three that the headaches disappeared and I began to dream in French. from Abroad by Souad Zakarani
But one lady said, / “I had a job I couldn’t stand / for ten years.” from Fifteen Years of Minimum Wage Jobs by Mark Hudson
When I was 16 I knew I could / Work hard and play harder … from Advice to self by Rees Campbell
Despite these and other occurrences, the pattern went unremarked in the final report of the Commission Inquiry. from Incident by Pedro Ponce
I’ve always believed nothing can alleviate my feelings of / ever-alone-ness. from Indescribable by Beverly M. Collins
Rob grins in reply. “This round’s only just got started, Jack! I’m counting on a re-match.” from Luck of the Draw by Christine Collinson
Soma noticed his gleaming, brass buttons, the polish on his boots and wondered if they, too, had been touched with morning dew. from For the Love of Love by Carol Adams
Janis had exchanged her wig for a blue-and-yellow scarf covering her skull, tied at the top with the extension falling like a ponytail beneath her mustard tunic. from Farewell Party by Lidyanne Aquino
I was there at your birth, / honoured to be holding my daughter’s hand … from A Rare Thing by Amalia Fish
She spun slowly / on her stool taking in the bright lights / of the casino bar. from Adventures in Paradise by John Grey
Pain is a muddle of mystery / that I live with every day … from Describe Your Pain by Dave Clark
I sat there, checking my wristwatch at fifteen-minute intervals wondering when the invasion of my personal space would end. from Currency by GP Hyde
Then it came to me, / this dress had always been a snug fit – from The Boy by Jane de Lozey
The man with the turtleneck kissed his children square / on the lips, as his wife chased them … from Chloe in the Afternoon by Amy Soricelli
When things went below the equator, she said a man had hurt her recently, so we just went back to passionate kissing until we were thoroughly dehydrated and wandered home … from Room for the Woman Traveler by Luke Lester
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