Fiction, Supposedly
Fiction by Guy BiedermanSuppose you discover in your 60th year that your father was a molester, had been molested himself. By his father. Suppose you discover that your grandfather, whom you never knew, was not only a molester but most likely had been molested too. By his adopted father. Suppose you learn all this over conversation with your cousin whom you barely knew growing up, being 19 years older than you. Suppose he asks you if your father had ever hurt you, as you sit at his kitchen table drinking coffee looking out over DC at the sunset-lit horizon through leafless trees. A city with all its history that you love so much.… More
The Bus Stop On Brownwood
Fiction“That’s the problem with your school,” the father went on. “You show up every day to learn things you won’t need until you’re in college, then you learn things in college you won’t need until you get a job. That’s why we’re here. That, and my back problems of course.”… More
Completely Different People
Fiction by Matthew Thomas MeadeThey sometimes had pets, sometimes did not. Sometimes had children, sometimes did not. They sometimes loved each other, sometimes did not. And they lived that way for a long time.… More
Cursed
Fiction by Nicholas ClementeShe said she knew that God existed because she knew that the enemies of God existed.… More
Old Tennis
Fiction by Nicholas LitchfieldHe didn’t feel like he had aged well at all. His baggy shirt might hide the spare tire around his middle, but then there were the blemished parts that were harder to disguise, like the deep furrows across his forehead, the laughter lines about the mouth, and crow crags at the corners of his eyes. A little wart had also suddenly revealed itself in place of a beauty spot. Today, he felt like a hoary old man.… More
Toy of the Season
Fiction by Jamie EtheridgeHe wants the game but also doesn’t. He imagines slamming it into the trash bin under the sink or cracking it against the side of the house, breaking it into a hundred jagged pieces, orange casing, grey screen, the soundtrack whirring tick tick tick. He is also sure all his friends at school will crow and squawk in a huddle when he shows them. They’ll crowd around him at lunch time, in recess and they’ll watch mesmerized as Mario climbs and Kong hurls and Pauline cowers in the corner.… More
Encore
Fiction by Matthew BurnsideHere’s the thing—the clown isn’t laughing. He’s just sitting there on his stool in the center of the tent, sharpening his banana into a knife. This is after twisting together a balloon elephant and making my sister cry, popping it with a pin hidden between his teeth.… More
Two Stories
Fiction by Dave PerlisNudging 40, disturbingly gray, I’m vexed and disappointed that after weeks of webs and skeletons, Mill Valley is a ghost town.… More
Two Stories
Fiction by M.F. RobinsonWhen Lester Hardin stood before the judge he had just turned twenty-three years old. His hair was greasy, cut and trimmed low across the top of his crown with long knotted strands straddling down his collar. … More
Rejoice, We Conquer
Fiction by Jaime BalboaFor the briefest moment, absolute fear welled up in António and threatened to engulf him.… More
Becoming Them
Fiction by J. M. GarciaWhat had happened to Crazy Lady? Why was she the way she was? He knew what had happened to him.… More
The Ambit of Our Friendship
Fiction by Sean Ennis“Wait,” he says and types my name into the search bar.… More
Real Men Don’t Hit Their Wives
Fiction by Phillip Scott MandelLewis relishes, slightly and mischievously, the young couple’s naïve discourse about bridesmaids and flower centerpieces, as if it all means something. They are blissfully unaware of the inevitable mutual loathing that plagues all marriages.
She’s your problem now, Benny-boy. Enjoy paying for Amazon deliveries the rest of your life.… More
Candy
Fiction by Francisco UribeMy bladder feels like it’s about to burst. I got this frickin UTI, which is so goddang embarrassing because men, especially men my age, ain’t supposed to get. And now, I gotta take a piss real bad, but I refuse to get up from the sofa . . .… More
Conspiracy Practice
Fiction by Zeke JarvisPart of the problem was that we knew that we hated the government, but when we started to talk about how to fight the government, we realized that weren’t really sure who the government was. … More
“The car had been through a reconstructed transmission, a busted carburetor, and was an absolute lush for Valvoline.” – Jordan Farmer, “Brothers”
