Gabi Cranga

“Return to Sender” by Gabi Cranga

I am paralyzed at the moment from a single thought. The last time I saw you was in a McDonald's parking lot. What a sham. This whole business of finding someone to spend your life with. With Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon, it only reminds me of just how lonesome life can be. It's been four weeks since that last moment with Christian. If I had known that would've been our last goodbye, would I have acted differently? It begs the aching question if whether or not he knew it was our last goodbye, too. Now I sit here in my fre...

1 like 0 comments 0

Read story

“Restore” by Gabi Cranga

Gia was at work. She clicked onto a Google Doc that her 3rd graders had been working on all week. One of her students was distraught, standing (way too close) beside her. She was afraid they could smell her breath... lately she hadn't been eating, so she couldn't imagine what it smelled like, most likely a tomb... 3rd graders pick up on that kind of stuff. With tears in their eyes, her student began to sniffle: "It was there yesterday. All my work. I don't know what happened." She put a hand on their shoulder, trying to give some comfo...

1 like 0 comments 0

Read story

“Letters to God” by Gabi Cranga

"Are you there, God? It's me..." Again, me. Yes. I know I've been asking for this a lot lately, but... Could you please help?" She wrote the letter pathetically. It was a constant habit of hers. To write letters to God. It was a cathartic. It was literally therapy. If she didn't she would end up yelling at people she didn't mean to hurt or laying her work clothes in tears, pondering if life was worth it at all. And would could be so big and so bad of a problem? It didn't even seem worthy enough. Some people were starving or living in pov...

1 like 0 comments 0

Read story

“all loves lead to another” by Gabi Cranga

"Thanks," she said flatly. "Thanks a lot." Then, grabbing her ticket from the finicky airline clerk, she boarded the plane in a huff. It was always a hassle, it seemed. Why did everything seem like such an annoyance lately? Her name was misspelled and so it took an entire 15 minutes to explain. People were just imbeciles. Cecelia really had no patience for it. She was getting more and more impatient, and she really hadn't a clue as to why. Taking her seat, she arranged her things, then rearranged them below her feet. She waited anxiousl...

0 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“Young at Heart” by Gabi Cranga

It was 9pm on a Thursday. It was 9pm on a Thursday at Living Waters Lutheran Retirement Home. The squeaks of an expectant wheelchair were the only sounds heard through the quiet halls. That and the beeps of incessant medical machines. And the far-off nurses' chatter. The Greeting Room was dark and safe-feeling. The Cafeteria had closed and only a few pans were heard being cleaned in the kitchen, where a dim light was cast. Anthony wheeled himself up to the window and checked the parking lot. Yes he thought They're here. With that, ...

1 like 0 comments 0

Read story

“Ghost of a Dog” by Gabi Cranga

He declined the call from his father and turned over in bed. It was a Saturday after all. What else did he do besides sleeping in and eating? But more importantly, why was his father calling him? Throwing his comforter over his head, he expunged the question.Closing his eyes again, his phone buzzed. A voicemail?With a grunt of tired laziness he flipped over and put his phone up to his ear:"Joe-it's Dad. Um... I really wished you'd of picked up, I hate trying to tell you this... like this. But, it's Oswald. He- he had a seizure last nigh...

6 likes 1 comment 1

Read story

“A broken heart is nothing more than a beggar.” by Gabi Cranga

Submitted to Contest #58

Love yourself. Every single neuron seemed to fire this message just so that she could lift her head off the pillow and start the day.It didn't seem possible. To be so... so what? Mulled over. All together, mulled over. She felt as if she overthought, over-dreamt, and over-worried throughout the course of a lonely day. Weekends were beginning to feel like time-suckers where she spent half the time trying to motivate herself to do something and the other half wondering where the time went when she finally did something. Or did she? Was she eve...

11 likes 6 comments 6

Read story

“Sadie and Sunlight” by Gabi Cranga

Submitted to Contest #55

Write something. Pause. Damn, I could use some coffee. Breathe. Think. Something clever. Something creative. Real. Gripping. Get their attention in as few words possible. ….….Recluse transforms world from the safety of his home.            Boring, uninviting.            Try again.             It can’t be this hard.….….The man behind th...

14 likes 1 comment 1

Read story

“Behind the Scenes” by Gabi Cranga

Submitted to Contest #54

Dez clutched an empty bowl of popcorn while reaching for the tissue box. It was coming, she knew it, the end was coming."Peter?" He turned to look over his shoulder, his back still towards her. The man's gorgeous frame left a shadow by the door. "I never wanted it to come to this." Tears now. Lots of fake, but beautifully convincing tears. "Cherise." He couldn't resist. Grabbing her, his lip barely quivered before breaking down. In an instant, her arms were around him, holding on desperately because she knew.. she knew this would be goodb...

8 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“Shooting Star Fever” by Gabi Cranga

Submitted to Contest #51

The chaise lounge was slightly damp with a premature morning dew. She didn't worry though. Clever enough, she managed to snatch a beach towel on her way out to the porch. She put it over the deck chair before laying down. Leaning her messy bun back on the stale smelling towel, she caught a full glimpse of what the universe had to offer to her this night. Wow. She took a breath and listened to herself slowly exhale. A whiff of his cologne caught her off guard. Wearing his green flannel was her last, grasping attempt to hold on. She felt somew...

20 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“Shatterproof” by Gabi Cranga

Submitted to Contest #50

"No."The word fell flat. His face fell with it."Oh my god--"She turned so as not to face him. The sun was in her eyes. She felt almost blinded by it, the tears collecting quickly and filling with sunlight. It was painful. Every feature about it. How could she have let it go on for so long? She should have left so much sooner.His hand on her shoulder reminded her of the pending explanation. The let-down. The break-up. Everything she had been hoping to avoid. Everything she was intensifying due to her long and silent gripping to what she had l...

15 likes 2 comments 2

Read story

“Love's Prescription ” by Gabi Cranga

Submitted to Contest #49

She noticed his hands before anything else. They twitched and fidgeted as if they were late for something and the rest of his body would just have to catch up. Next were his eyes. They darted from one corner of the room to the other, watching the ceiling as if the answer to all his problems would be written there. Whenever his eyes would set on something, then she could really look at them. They were a beautiful pair of black irises. Never before had she seen eyes so dark. It was intriguing while at the same time frightening. Lastly, his nam...

8 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“The Viewing” by Gabi Cranga

Submitted to Contest #49

Setting: A brisk December night, outside a funeral parlor. The line is long, wrapped around the entirety of the building, and people stand about in silence. Some senseless chatter is made out. Solemn, still, cold. A young woman rubs her hands together continually and bounces up and down with chill. There is a man in front of her, who notices her. She is unaware of him, as her teeth begin to chatter. He continues to watch her. The line is stagnant. He decides to take the risk and attempt conversation. MAN: (off-handedly, almost to no o...

12 likes 0 comments 0

Read story

“The Music Never Stopped” by Gabi Cranga

Submitted to Contest #46

The snow drifted almost as if in slow motion around his face."A book?"He repeated the word."You're writing a book?"He kept saying it as if it was something momentous. Maybe it was."Yeah... I've rewritten the first chapter about a half a dozen times."He laughed softly. A gentle, endearing laugh."It's been my baby all through high school. Now, I'm just trying to find an ending."The night seemed to be closing in around them as they sat on a stone ledge overlooking a frozen fountain. She squinted. And shivered. Campus was cold and blurry, the sh...

14 likes 6 comments 6

Read story

“Delilah ” by Gabi Cranga

Submitted to Contest #42

Tipping the contents of his bag gently, the 53 year-old boy disappointingly dumped the rest of his stale bread into the pond. The ducks had avoided him almost purposefully. Or so he thought. Looking in their direction, he noticed for the first time a single-file line of ducklings mimicking every move their mother made. He scoffed internally at himself. How could he miss such a pleasant sight? Spitting on the ground, he wondered why the sight did not fill him with pleasantness at all.Standing and shaking his head at the nature that enveloped ...

11 likes 4 comments 4

Read story