Smash the front door in with the pickup, says Dad. I considers it: a cement step, the sunken garden next to it, the brick around the frame, the new pickup. How about a locksmith? I built it sixty years ago, he says. It’s pretty strong. But you’re driving, he concedes.… more
Category Archives: FICTION
The Well of Hidden Dreams
FICTION by Areej QuraishiWhat had followed was a cycle, an expulsion of amassed pain. It could not be dispelled nor evaporated, it had to be unleashed the way clouds poured the rains they harbored, rather than condensed into the buried recesses of wells. Despite her sins, she has suffered plenty.… more
more secret wars
FICTION by tony rauchI thought maybe they were canceling operations. Or maybe terminating my contract. For good this time. Real good. Maybe they wanted to do it in public, make a big show of it. I’d rather they handle these matters in private, in some musty old brick warehouse somewhere, in some back alley, on a secret plane to nowheresville, maybe tossing my body out over a swamp. There is a dignity to that, a flair to it.… more
Clint
FICTION by J. Thomas MurphyClint preferred showing over telling, the width of his shoulders, the location of his feet. He invited the clients to watch him, to learn from his form, his steady, even reps, balanced sets that worked each muscle group. Clint was a specimen of physical human potential. We all had something to learn.… more
The 99 Days of Hell
FICTION by Stuart M. RossThe couple said, “it will get better.” They said, “let’s do that tomorrow.” They said, “we got through today and it could’ve been worse.” They said, “God willing,” and they said, “from your mouth to God’s ears.” The husband said, “that’s like robbing Peter to pay Paul,” and death rattled inside him.… more
Stacking Napkins
FICTION by Maya JohnsonWorking somewhere as temporary and replaceable as a fast food restaurant, you can pick a new identity and try it on for a season. I become obedient, quiet. It’s easier that way.… more
The Last King of the Skinheads
FICTION by Adam J. Galanski-De LeónThey drank to the good times, and then drank the good times away. It wasn’t two years in until she stabbed him in the gut in the middle of the night after catching him messaging multiple other girls on his burner phone.… more
PRACTICE
FICTION by Jack SullivanMonday night, judo class. Ishaan is on top of me, struggling with his grip. Though sensei Frank just demonstrated the choke for us, slowly, thoroughly, Ishaan’s already forgotten the hand work. His thin fingers grasp and re-grasp on my lapels, his knuckles grazing my face.… more
License to Carry
FICTION by Anthony GedellShe could have stopped having a drink if she cared. If anyone cared. But she didn’t see much point in caring and neither did anyone else. When Attica was young, she wondered why it seemed as though nobody cared if she was around. Then she didn’t much care about being around.… more
Bible Study
FICTION by Garret MillerMen like James don’t know softness, don’t know a whole lot other than work. They still look for God, though. Even after hours on the floor at Honda, they crawl towards church fronts, hungry and tired and missing their wives and brothers and sisters and cousins and mothers. The gods they know during the day are not gentle like the one they are here looking for. … more
