Brett Pribble
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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 "The Hairbrush" written by @swethaamit.bsky.social and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"The hairbrush lay on the wooden floor beneath the dressing table in my dead mom’s bedroom in my childhood home, which was up for sale in old Palo Alto."

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The Hairbrush — Ghost Parachute
The hairbrush lay on the wooden floor beneath the dressing table in my dead mom’s bedroom in my childhood home, which was up for sale in old Palo Alto. It was a fading shade of purple, with a light cr...
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February 3, 2026 at 7:34 PM
Read "The Simplest Snow Fort" written by David Morgan O'Connor and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"Winter came like a polar bear, silent and merciless."

tinyurl.com/5fy9b2us
The Simplest Snow Fort — Ghost Parachute
Winter came like a polar bear, silent and merciless. At first, flakes pirouetted in the air, delicate as ash, but soon the sky collapsed into duvets of snow, smothering every sound. The lane vanished....
tinyurl.com
February 3, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Read "From a Hospital Bed" written by Alex Gurtis and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"Discomfort feels comforting. Numbness fatal. He remembered the snake wrapping itself around his body, mouth open looking to be fed."

tinyurl.com/y3f42urb
From a Hospital Bed — Ghost Parachute
Discomfort feels comforting. Numbness fatal. He remembered the snake wrapping itself around his body, mouth open looking to be fed. Who isn’t searching for sustenance in these trying times? Then the h...
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February 2, 2026 at 10:46 PM
Read "Another Larry" written by Christopher Ramsey and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"Circus folk didn’t like to draw attention to themselves when they were wintering."

tinyurl.com/yn75bn7u
Another Larry — Ghost Parachute
Larry parked the Fiat two houses down from Sally’s Gibsonton bungalow. It was getting dark, and Sally’s neighborhood didn’t have any streetlights. Circus folk didn’t like to draw attention to themselv...
tinyurl.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:54 PM
Read "Charitable Donation" written by
@kiptain.bsky.social and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"He looks everywhere for his shadow. It was just there a moment ago, staring back him blankly like it always does. Like it always did."

tinyurl.com/2s4ks2m6
Charitable Donation — Ghost Parachute
He looks everywhere for his shadow. It was just there a moment ago, staring back him blankly like it always does. Like it always did. It’s not as if the sun suddenly clouded over or the day turned int...
tinyurl.com
February 2, 2026 at 8:20 PM
Read "A Fixed Distance" written by Abbie Barker and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"Laura isn’t sleeping. Sometimes she experiments with pills the doctors prescribe, but they make her absentminded..."

tinyurl.com/3djztu7r
A Fixed Distance — Ghost Parachute
Laura isn’t sleeping. Sometimes she experiments with pills the doctors prescribe, but they make her absentminded, like the time she called ahead for a table at T-Bones and forgot to show up. There are...
tinyurl.com
February 2, 2026 at 5:57 PM
Read "Pearl sugar moustache" written by @kiklodge.bsky.social and illustrated by @jeromefage.bsky.social.

"You don’t have to believe, Maggie. I just need you to come along, said my friend Betts."

tinyurl.com/2rxw2vrk
Pearl sugar moustache — Ghost Parachute
You don’t have to believe, Maggie. I just need you to come along, said my friend Betts. So we both got on a bus from Leeds to Lourdes. 650 euros; not including the paninis, the fruit juice, the nightc...
tinyurl.com
February 2, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Read "Nightmare about the First Day of the Semester" written by David Galef and illustrated by @amymarques.bsky.social.

"Not that dream of teaching naked, gesticulating until I realize what everyone sees..."

tinyurl.com/36dztadd
Nightmare about the First Day of the Semester — Ghost Parachute
Not that dream of teaching naked, gesticulating until I realize what everyone sees; or arriving an hour late not because parking’s become impossible but because of a crash on the turnpike, which occur...
tinyurl.com
February 2, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Read "Losing our humanity" written by @cieramcelroy.bsky.social and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"We started eating meat raw. Steak with blood in the core, sausages peeled from the case. We ate with our fingers—forks were outlawed—and we licked marrow..."

tinyurl.com/4dw3959z
Losing our humanity — Ghost Parachute
We started eating meat raw. Steak with blood in the core, sausages peeled from the case. We ate with our fingers—forks were outlawed—and we licked marrow from under the nails. We ate with our heads cu...
tinyurl.com
February 2, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Read "Some Hurt Thing" written by @karenkay.bsky.social and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"Haylea is going to freak – I’m sure of that. Whether it will be a good or a bad freak remains to be seen, but I can for sure expect a reaction."

tinyurl.com/4acrt3cf
Some Hurt Thing — Ghost Parachute
Haylea is going to freak – I’m sure of that. Whether it will be a good or a bad freak remains to be seen, but I can for sure expect a reaction. I’m a city person – always have been. I was 13 the first...
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February 2, 2026 at 3:24 PM
Read "Sacred Geometry" written by @wildflowerred.bsky.social and illustrated by Brett J Barr.

“Are you still seeing that guy,” Sloane asks from her bed while rubbing sunscreen into the dip beneath her collarbone, “Mall Mike?”

tinyurl.com/2uzu5hsx
Sacred Geometry — Ghost Parachute
“Are you still seeing that guy,” Sloane asks from her bed while rubbing sunscreen into the dip beneath her collarbone, “Mall Mike?” Zoe laughs with her mouth full, with orange dust clinging to her lip...
tinyurl.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Read "What I Can Tell You Now" written by @jacqdoyle.bsky.social and illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social.

"You wouldn’t risk losing your “soulmate”—your word, not mine— would you?"

tinyurl.com/mr5hrdse
What I Can Tell You Now — Ghost Parachute
You wouldn’t risk losing your “soulmate”—your word, not mine— would you? But why haven’t I heard a peep from you since last Friday when you gave me that “I think we both need a break” speech? I mean r...
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February 2, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Read "The Great Frontier" written by @mbarrettwriter.bsky.social and illustrated by Brett J Barr.

"By morning, we dug ourselves a trench. And hung photos in the dirt, old posters from our bedrooms, framed within the mud. We paced the few feet back and forth, crouching so..."

tinyurl.com/4j8n5arn
The Great Frontier — Ghost Parachute
By morning, we dug ourselves a trench. And hung photos in the dirt, old posters from our bedrooms, framed within the mud. We paced the few feet back and forth, crouching so no one could see our bobbin...
tinyurl.com
February 2, 2026 at 1:59 PM
Read "Cross Your Heart" written by @shastagrant.bsky.social
and illustrated by @amymarques.bsky.social.

"It’s been six weeks of the baby screaming, while he gobbles up his mother’s overcooked food, saying it’s just how he remembers."

tinyurl.com/mwee8vke
Cross Your Heart — Ghost Parachute
It’s been six weeks of the baby screaming, while he gobbles up his mother’s overcooked food, saying it’s just how he remembers. Six weeks of her saying Like this dear, swaddling the baby too tightly. ...
tinyurl.com
February 2, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Read "Solitaire and Other Hobbies for the End of the World" written by Kristen Zory King and illustrated by Brett J Barr.

"Each year, the oceans rise approximately .14 inches, says the scientist through the small, dented radio above Molly’s kitchen sink."

tinyurl.com/5hef228x
Solitaire and Other Hobbies for the End of the World — Ghost Parachute
Each year, the oceans rise approximately .14 inches, says the scientist through the small, dented radio above Molly’s kitchen sink. Also rising, the core temperature of the earth, at double its usual ...
tinyurl.com
February 2, 2026 at 1:10 PM
Read "Subdermal" written by @pleomorphic2.bsky.social and illustrated by @courtneyb77.bsky.social.

"The doctor has put in two neat stitches, black nylon bunny ears sticking out as if the girl has been wrapped up."

tinyurl.com/79zvfbfm
Subdermal — Ghost Parachute
“The British knew how to run a country,” the girl’s father says to the doctor. “Our railways are because of them, you know?” The doctor has put in two neat stitches, black nylon bunny ears sticking ou...
tinyurl.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:55 PM
Read "Breaking News" written by @avitusbcarle.bsky.social and illustrated by Brett J Barr.

"Did you hear about the Black man? The Black woman? Black boy? The Black girl gone missing? Kidnapped. From thoughts and prayers. From the news."

tinyurl.com/yswvau9e
Breaking News — Ghost Parachute
Did you hear about the Black man? The Black woman? Black boy? The Black girl gone missing? Kidnapped. From thoughts and prayers. From the news. A child turned memory turned muted turned into a body, f...
tinyurl.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:20 PM
Read "Chrysalis" written by @christopherallen.bsky.social and illustrated by @kaystedmanfriedman.bsky.social.

"Mama can’t see me, but I’m watching over her."

tinyurl.com/y7r4umhe
Chrysalis — Ghost Parachute
Mama can’t see me, but I’m watching over her. From the kitchen. She’s on the couch in the den, recumbent, because she’s depressed, which she never says, but I know. I can read her mind. She lays my ni...
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February 2, 2026 at 12:00 PM
The February 2026 issue of Ghost Parachute is here! Cover illustrated by @genevievetyrrell.bsky.social.

tinyurl.com/yz54jnyb
February 2026 Issue — Ghost Parachute
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February 1, 2026 at 1:36 PM
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...
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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