Among the many discoveries you make on your pilgrimage to now is the elusive eighth dwarf, of whom as a wandering pilgrim, you’d only heard about. But there he is as you make your way down the dock one wet night walking the planks to your floating home, an enlightening enhanced margarita under your belt. He sits under a potted citrus tree perfectly still—enigmatic, inscrutable, and a little chipped, having let go of all attachments, including the ceramic ax that once rested in the empty grip of his ceramic hands, and that’s when you realize that yes, this is not only the elusive eighth dwarf, this is in fact the eight-fold Buddha dwarf. You snap a photo with your iPhone which doesn’t actually preserve moments, but comes dadgum close—memories being aliases of the moment—and you let go a delighted chuckle of gratitude for the lessons this happy dwarf has taught you by not teaching you anything. Pocketing your phone, you breathe deeply of the salt air and revel in the iNow.

Guy Biederman

is the author of six books, including Translated from the Original: One-Inch Punch Fiction (Nomadic Press, 2022), Nova Nights (Nomadic Press, 2021), Edible Grace (KYSO Flash Press, 2019), and Soundings & Fathoms (Finishing Line Press).

His stories have appeared in many journals such as Bull, Carve, Flash Frontier, Flashback Fiction, great weather for Media, KYSO Flash, MacQueen’s Quinterly, Riddled with Arrows, The Ekphrastic Review, The Disappointed Housewife, and Exposition Review, where he was twice a Flash 405 winner. His work has recently received a Publisher’s Choice Award and an Editor’s Choice Award, and has been nominated for Best of The Net.

A former peace corps volunteer, gardener, and college creative-writing instructor, Guy lives on a houseboat with his wife and salty cat, and walks the planks daily.

Author’s website: https://www.guybiederman.com/

Author’s blog: This Day Afloat: Reflections of Life on the Water

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ Quite, a prose poem by Biederman which was the winner of the “Triple-Q” Writing Challenge in MacQueen’s Quinterly (Issue 11, January 2022); to hear him read this piece, see Recordings at his website.

⚡ Edible Grace: An e-Collection of 12 Micro-Prose in KYSO Flash (Issue 12, Summer 2019); click on Next Page at bottom left of each piece to access the next one.

Edible Grace is also available in print and offers bonus content, including six additional micro-prose and five more photographs by the author, plus a pen-and-ink drawing by Tula Biederman.