Brett Pribble
banner
brettpribble.bsky.social
Brett Pribble
@brettpribble.bsky.social
Writer. Teacher. Founder and Editor-in-chief of Ghost Parachute literary journal. Inflatable flamingo supervisor. I knew a girl once.
Read "Holding Back" written by @damicandrea.bsky.social
and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"My grandmother on my mother’s side was never one to hold back..."

tinyurl.com/ys97hdjs
Holding Back — Ghost Parachute
My grandmother on my mother’s side was never one to hold back: don’t slouch – we’re in church, sit up straight, listen to the reverend, don’t yawn, stop fidgeting, why aren’t you singing, don’t just s...
tinyurl.com
January 3, 2026 at 4:57 AM
Read "Humidity" written by @zaryfekete.bsky.social and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"In July the air was thick enough to push back. You and I stood in it, early, before the sun arrived like a loud, brash fire."

tinyurl.com/fsh8y5uv
Humidity — Ghost Parachute
In July the air was thick enough to push back. You and I stood in it, early, before the sun arrived like a loud, brash fire. At dawn the corn leaves were still wet and sharp at the edges. Our shirts s...
tinyurl.com
January 3, 2026 at 4:33 AM
Read "labyrinth" written by @acadialogue.bsky.social and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"The only person standing in the tiny windowless club, I hold in any move to dance like a secret, battling urges to conceal or spill it."

tinyurl.com/4ktyn5pf
labyrinth — Ghost Parachute
The only person standing in the tiny windowless club, I hold in any move to dance like a secret, battling urges to conceal or spill it. The DJ stares at her controller, so I can stare at her: tape wou...
tinyurl.com
January 3, 2026 at 4:07 AM
Read "Saint Datsun and the Lowly Hand" written by @rossmcmeekin.bsky.social and illustrated by Brett J Barr.

"From the lonely sidewalk, Reggie the Hand watched a car murmur past with no one in it."

tinyurl.com/3achnyx8
Saint Datsun and the Lowly Hand — Ghost Parachute
From the lonely sidewalk, Reggie the Hand watched a car murmur past with no one in it. For a moment he considered it might be one of those self-driving models, but this was a Datsun from the 80s, shab...
tinyurl.com
January 3, 2026 at 3:46 AM
Read "Oliver Nelson and the Pig Dissection" written by @amyavt.bsky.social and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"Everywhere that stupid backpack, at his feet during class, in his lap at the cafeteria, worn forward as he shuffles down the hallways alone."

tinyurl.com/5t52ufbc
Oliver Nelson and the Pig Dissection — Ghost Parachute
Everywhere that stupid backpack, at his feet during class, in his lap at the cafeteria, worn forward as he shuffles down the hallways alone. Faded orange, tattered, the black Sharpie drawing of a tige...
tinyurl.com
January 3, 2026 at 3:24 AM
Read "The Liminal Space of the Track at a Tri-City YMCA" written by @sarlynh.bsky.social and illustrated by Brett J Barr.

"A woman circles the track at the YMCA after work, around and around like a mouse on a wheel."

tinyurl.com/2pyxennd
The Liminal Space of the Track at a Tri-City YMCA — Ghost Parachute
A woman circles the track at the YMCA after work, around and around like a mouse on a wheel. Not a hamster, like one might expect. She’s far more mouse-like—anxious, prone to tachycardia, most active ...
tinyurl.com
January 3, 2026 at 3:07 AM
Read "Small White Flags Of Surrender" written by @andreamarcusa.bsky.social and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"It had something to do with the dryer. We’d been playing Russian roulette with it."

tinyurl.com/449y8wer
Small White Flags Of Surrender — Ghost Parachute
It had something to do with the dryer. We’d been playing Russian roulette with it. Each load a spin of the chamber, rippling and clanking so loud the baby would stop, stare, and point, as if warning u...
tinyurl.com
January 3, 2026 at 2:50 AM
Read "I’ll Tell You What I Want. What I Really, Really Want." written by @lauriemmarshall.bsky.social and illustrated by Brett J Barr.

"I’m just sitting here, dumbstruck, maybe for the first time in my life unable to articulate the thoughts that are buzzing through my head..."

tinyurl.com/d67bfk4e
I’ll Tell You What I Want. What I Really, Really Want. — Ghost Parachute
I’m just sitting here, dumbstruck, maybe for the first time in my life unable to articulate the thoughts that are buzzing through my head one after another in quick succession like how did I ever thin...
tinyurl.com
January 3, 2026 at 2:02 AM
Read "Bozo" written by @maureenaitken.bsky.social and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"This isn’t just a Bozo the Clown Classic Punching Bag. This is training. Every time someone punches Bozo in the face, he flies back up, smiling."

tinyurl.com/mwy8a3e5
Bozo — Ghost Parachute
This isn’t just a Bozo the Clown Classic Punching Bag. This is training. Every time someone punches Bozo in the face, he flies back up, smiling. He takes a hit like a Weeble Wobble. He won’t fall down...
tinyurl.com
January 3, 2026 at 1:27 AM
Read "Deal Breaker, 1937" written by @mynachang.bsky.social and illustrated by Brett J Barr.

"Devil days got that fool magic brewin’ in the hot, you know what I’m talking about, those close Kansas afternoons when the thunderheads build and build, climbing up the sky..."

tinyurl.com/3jd9de8n
Deal Breaker, 1937 — Ghost Parachute
Devil days got that fool magic brewin’ in the hot, you know what I’m talking about, those close Kansas afternoons when the thunderheads build and build, climbing up the sky like they trying to get int...
tinyurl.com
January 3, 2026 at 12:41 AM
Read "See-through" written by Len Kuntz and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"But you didn’t call me back is what I hear the man whisper into his cellphone at Gate 8, an anthill of people and commotion blurring around me, the thumbtack beginning its push..."

tinyurl.com/3v7eeta8
See-through — Ghost Parachute
But you didn’t call me back is what I hear the man whisper into his cellphone at Gate 8, an anthill of people and commotion blurring around me, the thumbtack beginning its push, center of my forehead,...
tinyurl.com
January 3, 2026 at 12:19 AM
Read "She Said God But She Meant Silver" written by @pintsncupcakes.bsky.social and illustrated by Brett J Barr.

"Not silver-tongued like the devil but silver bullets like the ones that kills werewolves. Alice always switched words, said something other than what she meant."

tinyurl.com/h8vs5npr
She Said God But She Meant Silver — Ghost Parachute
Not silver-tongued like the devil but silver bullets like the ones that kills werewolves. Alice always switched words, said something other than what she meant. But we’d all gotten used to it, gotten ...
tinyurl.com
January 2, 2026 at 12:37 PM
Read "There’s a Dead Cat in the Installation" written by
@lumchanmfa.bsky.social and illustrated by @amymarques.bsky.social.

"I want to scream at you but I know you don’t want to hear it as you wander around the abandoned drug store..."

tinyurl.com/pws2ykum
There’s a Dead Cat in the Installation — Ghost Parachute
I want to scream at you but I know you don’t want to hear it as you wander around the abandoned drug store turned found art showcase, old boxes of meds, the kanji, hiragana, katakana in red, blue, whi...
tinyurl.com
January 2, 2026 at 4:05 AM
Read "Polka Party" written by @gary79.bsky.social and illustrated by @courtneyb77.bsky.social.

"My girlfriend for all of senior year played tenor sax in a polka band. If you picture her in a certain way or think that’s funny, you haven’t heard the whole story."

tinyurl.com/3zt5d5c4
Polka Party — Ghost Parachute
My girlfriend for all of senior year played tenor sax in a polka band. If you picture her in a certain way or think that’s funny, you haven’t heard the whole story. She was first chair flute in the hi...
tinyurl.com
January 1, 2026 at 10:49 PM
Read "Salt" written by @whitneycollins.bsky.social and illustrated by @kaystedmanfriedman.bsky.social.

"Shelly was in the middle of making a mule when the phone rang. It was a nurse she’d never met calling about the father she’d never known."

tinyurl.com/38sffkr2
Salt — Ghost Parachute
Shelly was in the middle of making a mule when the phone rang. It was a nurse she’d never met calling about the father she’d never known. Apparently, he had less than a week to live and had been shout...
tinyurl.com
January 1, 2026 at 10:26 PM
The January 2026 issue of Ghost Parachute is here!

Cover illustrated by @genevievetyrrell.bsky.social.

tinyurl.com/ams8we9k
January 2026 Issue — Ghost Parachute
tinyurl.com
January 1, 2026 at 8:50 PM
Congratulations to Ghost Parachute's Best Small Fictions and Best Microfiction Nominees: BSF: Avitus B Carle, Sara Lippmann, Meg Pokrass, Dawn Tasaka Steffler, and Claudia Monpere. BMF: Jenny Stalter, Andrew Bertaina, Sarah Freligh, Melissa Llanes Brownlee, and Michelle Ross.
December 15, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Read "Early Intervention" written by @christielauryn.bsky.social and illustrated by Brett J Barr.

"We have taken the deaf babies out to swing. One of the deaf babies is mine. I am not deaf, my husband is not deaf, but our baby is deaf, and no one knows why."

tinyurl.com/3c692jkh
Early Intervention — Ghost Parachute
We have taken the deaf babies out to swing. One of the deaf babies is mine. I am not deaf, my husband is not deaf, but our baby is deaf, and no one knows why. Just one of those things that happen. The...
tinyurl.com
December 2, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Read "One to the Sixth Power" written by @kiptain.bsky.social and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"I’ve been counting down the seconds on the prison’s digital wall clock ever since it hit six minutes, and now I’m down to six seconds left for the Governor to..."

tinyurl.com/yz9djmfr
One to the Sixth Power — Ghost Parachute
I’ve been counting down the seconds on the prison’s digital wall clock ever since it hit six minutes, and now I’m down to six seconds left for the Governor to call before the first of three plungers i...
tinyurl.com
December 2, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Read "Kibble" written by Julie Jones and illustrated by Brett J Barr.

"There are certain things you don’t want to know about your dog."

tinyurl.com/22cmz3av
Kibble — Ghost Parachute
There are certain things you don’t want to know about your dog. You don’t want to know what carcass they rolled on at the park. You don’t want to know how death tastes on their tongue. It’s easy to fo...
tinyurl.com
December 2, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Read "I Think I Love You" written by @jhhwriter.bsky.social and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"It was East Memphis High’s fiftieth class reunion, and David Cassidy appeared at my front door in a powder-blue tux with his feathered hair..."

tinyurl.com/muu7kprw
I Think I Love You — Ghost Parachute
It was East Memphis High’s fiftieth class reunion, and David Cassidy appeared at my front door in a powder-blue tux with his feathered hair looking the same as in 1975 when his pictures from Tiger Bea...
tinyurl.com
December 2, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Read "Snap!" written by @mfcfeeley.bsky.social and illustrated by Brett J Barr.

"The thing about roadkill is you can really see it."

tinyurl.com/mp7rfcm9
Snap! — Ghost Parachute
The thing about roadkill is you can really see it. Like, yes, “the fox is beautiful and we’re sad it’s dead” but also “all foxes die, most of them slowly, painfully, and unappreciated, but this one di...
tinyurl.com
December 2, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Read "Winter" written by @mamiewilloughby.bsky.social and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"On the street in front of her house he waits in a baby blue Pinto head lights off exhaust clouds winter white, yellowed street lights."

tinyurl.com/yrbz94dx
Winter — Ghost Parachute
On the street in front of her house he waits in a baby blue Pinto head lights off exhaust clouds winter white, yellowed street lights. She is seventeen. She climbs in and over the front seat and chang...
tinyurl.com
December 2, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Read "Steppe" written by annekorkeakivi.bsky.social and illustrated by Brett J Barr.

"Pharmaceutical conferences come and go. After all these years, I don’t expect more from them than a few free drinks and a handful of business cards that will sit on my dresser..."

tinyurl.com/58seszf6
Steppe — Ghost Parachute
Pharmaceutical conferences come and go. After all these years, I don’t expect more from them than a few free drinks and a handful of business cards that will sit on my dresser amidst a tumble of coins...
tinyurl.com
December 2, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Read "She's" written by @patriciaqbidar.bsky.social and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"Scrubbing the dog’s vomit; subtracting his runny stool from the white carpet. Scooping coffee “crystals” from the jar in the cupboard and dissolving them into microwaved..."

tinyurl.com/3xe46bup
She's — Ghost Parachute
Scrubbing the dog’s vomit; subtracting his runny stool from the white carpet. Scooping coffee “crystals” from the jar in the cupboard and dissolving them into microwaved tap water. Taking a steadying ...
tinyurl.com
December 2, 2025 at 5:12 PM