Fiction

  • The Lost Boys

    by Kelly Murashige I find out a boy’s gone missing from a flyer on a corkboard. Had he disappeared a year or two ago, I would have found out from the news. For a while, I immersed myself in the goings-on of the world, afraid if I let a war, a bill, a cultural event… Continue reading

  • Origin

    by Phyllis Carol Agins She is on the way to the Sahara. Of ancient rivers and expanding dunes. Of oasis and caravans and myth. In the early mountains she witnesses a water source. Small bubbles force liquid from below the surface to push slowly toward the sheep that need water, the laundry that should be… Continue reading

  • Afterimage

    by Reece Jordan And so it repeats itself to him. Early summer: the beginning of July. They are at Julia’s place, sitting on a crescent of stone in the garden. The sun is out and the sky is that blend of blues, both soft and intense. Next to Ezra is a steaming mug of coffee… Continue reading

  • Spaghetti Face

    by KC Courtland That year, I drove a ‘96 Chevy Venture, a beat-up old minivan, and hauled bodies. It wasn’t as dramatic as it sounded, except it was. I had three babies and one on the way. Even with the van shouldering part of the load, I was weighed down. I’d buckle one kid then… Continue reading

  • Be Happy

    by Duke Stewart Harriet Bass arrives late for the afternoon matinee. The other patrons in the ticket line stare at her, commiserating on her recent divorce. She would love to scratch those bleeding eyes out. She enters the bathroom which has a vanity mirror encircled by translucent bulbs. She never looks in the mirror. Much… Continue reading

  • Ants

    by James Sears My brother Tom hunted the woods behind our house, moving through all the sharp plants North Florida offered, saw palmetto and yellow pines who leaned like sick old men. Nothing could live well here. Not trees. Not boys. Everything was vile and hard, or else it withered away. The midday sun blazed.… Continue reading

  • Snowflake

    by Barb Natividad Josie had to tell Eric. She’d been dreading it, and wondered how he’d react. Wondered if it was too late to tell him. They’d been dating for three months, and it had gone well. Plenty of dinner dates, trips to the movies and museums, and last week, a long weekend in Galena,… Continue reading

  • My Life as a Chaise Lounge

    by Beth Sherman Lately, Eric and Katie have been fighting. Eric wants to sell me on Facebook Marketplace. Katie says, no way. I’ve been in her family for like, almost a century. You can’t put a price on comfortability. Actually, Eric claims you can. They’d get $4,300. He’s checked the comps. He took pictures of… Continue reading

  • Saint Evelyn

    by Geoffrey Orens No one actually remembers much about Evelyn, although we remember her constantly: her portrait has been outside the Catholic church on Meserole for the last 25 years, forever enshrining her as a saintly 15-year old. Ever since that tragic hit-and-run that took away her life, she watches over us with a half-smile… Continue reading

  • Snipers

    by Mileva Anastasiadou Horror is on the menu and we take it because we’re tired of rom-coms and light dramas and coming of age narratives, but also because horror is our only option now that we’ve grown old. They don’t serve romance to people our age. The young waiter recognizes us because we’re regulars and… Continue reading