When I was fifteen I slapped a state trooper and later that day my youth service counselor grabbed my arm so tight I had to listen. I needed to be like other girls, he said, even if I had to fake it.… more
Category Archives: Fiction
Under the Bridge
Fiction by David MorrisThe reports would all say the same thing: that he had ventured here in violation of safety protocols. That his death, far from an accident, was the logical outcome of a cascade of mistakes, poor judgements, and bad decisions.… more
Mustache
Fiction by Tim LaneHe lights and drags. He passes it to you. You take it and inhale. You will do anything, you realize, and this thrills you more than it scares you.… more
Hard-Boiled Funeral
Fiction by John AffleckBack at the graveside, Larry was still dead. Incense burned and was wafted around, dirt got tossed in the grave.… more
All the Dead Things Come Back to Haunt Me After You Leave
Fiction by Kari TreeseYou asked me three times to clean the smudge off the ceiling. I said I would but I kept forgetting. I think this is one reason. … more
Home at the Stretch
Fiction by Jared WyllysOne of my earliest memories is of my mother turning a baseball game on the radio while waiting for me to fall asleep for an afternoon nap.… more
Death Stalked Him Like a Matador
Fiction by Robert O'BrienI knew then what it meant, to bleed slowly from the heart.… more
Trump Rally
Fiction by Kion YouI glance at my mom, who is squinting and fanning herself with a MAGA pamphlet, and I’m not sure how much she’s understanding. There are thousands of unmasked white people around us and I’m so paranoid my chest is throbbing, but this is precisely the point.… more
My Lost Decade
Fiction by Anthony VaralloI spilled milk where one was not supposed to spill milk, soiled myself at the most inopportune times, incessantly chewed a green rubber ring into a slobbery mess, and cried in the middle of church services, head after angry head turning to see my parents whisking me away down the center aisle. “Shhhh,” my parents whispered, but I knew they really wished to say, “Get yourself together, dude. You should see yourself right now!”… more
Two Stories
Fiction by Michael Colbert34 is the slowest in the pool, which shouldn’t surprise anybody, because he’s new. He started swimming a month ago, probably because his mom told him to lose weight. He has these chubby cheeks, and his swimsuit is a size thirty-four, hence the name. All of us wear thirty-two or smaller, and 34’s suit hardly even fits as it is.… more
