by Adam Blake Wright

Here at Flyway, we’re anxiously awaiting Spring Break and its promise of sunshine-filled adventure. Like us, perhaps you’re even counting down the days until you can read 50 Shades of Grey while sipping piña coladas along the seashore. So until that wet ‘n’ wild Daytona Beach vacation arrives, tide yourself over with our collection of spring-inspired stories featuring celebrities, mermaids, and death-defying stunts.

“Socrates On the Red Carpet” by Bob Woodiwiss (From McSweeney’s Internet Tendency)

Are you still basking in the glitz and glamour of this year’s Oscars? Have you retweeted Ellen’s record-breaking selfie more times than you can count? Now that True Detective is over, are you wondering what’s next in Matthew McConaughey’s career-reviving McConaissance? If so, this is the story for you. Here, Socrates engages in a humorous dialogue with Academy Award winning stars about fame, egotism, and the nature of storytelling itself.

“Constellations” by Jane Healey (From Paper Darts)

Admit it – you’ve always dreamed of finding a mermaid on the beach à laTom Hanks in Splash. Now imagine that this mermaid isn’t actually Daryl Hannah and instead lives in an observatory. In Jane Healey’s “Constellations,” a group of townspeople discover such a mermaid and make a heart-breaking decision about her place in their community. The accompanying illustrations are both lovely and haunting.

“On Father’s Beard” by Jody Sperling (From Word Riot)

Birth is a beautiful, sacred act, and nothing says, “Spring!” quite like a baby. That is, until you realize the baby’s father has a demonic appetite for newborn children. After reading Jody Sperling’s story, you might never look at beards the same way again. (Spring Break is almost here, anyway – perhaps it’s time to shave?)

“Honey Hunting in Nepal” by George Dvorsky (From io9)

Okay, so this isn’t technically a story, but these stunning photos should inspire you to write, go on a bad-ass adventure, or write about said bad-ass adventure. These photos of men scaling the cliff sides of Nepal in search of honey capture a sense of danger, bravery, and ancient tradition. Next time you buy honey at the grocery store, just be glad you didn’t have to retrieve it while dangling from a flimsy rope ladder.

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