Naked Jay holds a 4x4 up to his eye and follows the grain all the way to Ventura, past the warps, knots, and cracks that shaped the flow of his life, the tarot of where he’s been, what he’s done, and where he stands now, re-purposed in the making of someone new. He’d boxed in the Navy, always against larger guys, but he was the one who did the stalking. Some days you were the hammer, some days the nail. Now he putters on the waterfront wearing only a tool belt, troubleshooting for friends; always easier to spot problems when they belong to someone else. His old pal Hal had blown his stack for no good reason, 86’d from the Cruising Club for good, but since when did anger need just cause in this peeling climate? Naked Jay squints at Hal’s front door and smiles. The horseshoe nailed to the wall is upside down and everyone knows that’s how all the luck runs out. He reaches for his tool belt and draws his claw hammer, knowing Hal’s fortunes are just about to change.

The photograph above, Beware of Attack Carpenter, is copyrighted © by Guy Biederman. All rights reserved. Appears here with his permission.

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, The Disappointed Housewife, The Ekphrastic Review, Flash Frontier, Flashback Fiction, great weather for Media, KYSO Flash, MacQueen’s Quinterly, Riddled with Arrows, 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

⚡ Meow of Now, a tribute to Pierre, beloved companion and writing buddy; in MacQueen’s Quinterly (Issue 23, April 2024)

⚡ Precious Artifact Repairs, microfiction by Guy Biederman in MacQ (Issue 22, February 2024); nominated by MacQ for Best Microfiction 2025

⚡ Quite, a prose poem by Biederman selected as winner of the “Triple-Q” Writing Challenge in Issue 11 of MacQ (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.

⚡ The Lion Has Lost His Roar, a tribute to Little Bud (aka Cap’n Orange), from the Edible Grace e-collection described above