Flashes from the Other World by Julie Ann Weinstein

Julie Ann Weinstein’s  magic realism style prose. From flash fiction to books you’ll embark on a journey filled with playful and quirky heart felt characters.  Many reviewers have likened her stories to a modern day Twilight Zone.

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Magic without the hocus pocus, these stories explore the ethereal blur between reality and not, between dream and sleep, between love and other than love. They present relationships with a tender wackiness.

 

 Tossed into the mix are mischievous ghosts, who give the talking plants and even the seductive and vocal grains of sand a run for their money.

 

Quirky and offbeat, these stories will touch your heart, although they may tug at your funny bone first.

 

The Vacant Tub (A story from the book)

The ghost of past baths sat soaking up rays on the front lawn. Suds of yesteryear dripped off the porcelain surface of the tub. A bird chirped. Its bidding, its call, a young boy heard. He sat in the tub and raced a sailboat. A swell tipped the boat over, then moments later the boat stood upright and the boy pushed it along. Fine lines appeared on the base of the tub. 
    
A man emerged from the house and turned the tub over on its side. But the boy and the sailboat didn’t fall. They didn’t fall. They continued sailing the boat. The man ran his hands over the bottom of the tub. “Those scratches…they weren’t there yesterday. I know they weren’t there. I cleaned the tub myself.” 
    
A little boy laughed as the man dumped bleach into the tub and scrubbed with a yellow sponge. The boy and his boat continued to sail. Lines appeared on both sides of the tub. 
    
The man cursed and turned the tub upside down. The little boy’s laughter grew louder. The man dumped the bottle of bleach onto himself and began scrubbing his skin raw. Flecks of skin fell on grass blades; pink on green, red on green. The boy stopped laughing. “Daddy, it’s okay. I’m here.” He handed his father the sailboat with the little white sail and the blue bow. The father screamed. “No, don’t be scared. I just wanted to go sailing. I just wanted to go sailing. I’m a big boy.”

“Was,” the father said. 

“You heard me, Daddy. You really heard me?” 

The father flipped the tub over, sat in it and twirled the sailboat in his hand.

Julie Ann Weinstein is the author of the new magic realism collection,  Flashes

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From the Other World.  She has over ninety published stories and is a Pushcart Nominee, freelance writer, editorial consultant, flash fiction workshop leader and book reviewer for the literary magazine, Sein Und Werden. Julie is currently working on the Ruby Lucy stories, (a novel in stories) about a claivoyant gal living in a house of spirits. The author has been a guest on many AM Radio and Internet Shows. She is also published under the name, Julie Ann Shapiro.

Julie’s facebook wall  Reading Julie’s stories is an adventure … a leap into the unexpected and often one surreal trip.