True or false: Dan still doesn’t hate her? 1. He has papered his walls with abstract prints of multi-coloured koi? True. 2. Like most adults, he talks a lot about not feeling sufficiently caffeinated and how things were in his day? False. 3. As a child, he told his case worker that every rented family felt the same. He meant it too? True. … more
Category Archives: FICTION
Blue Light
FICTION by Nikoletta GjoniEvery night I go to bed, I ask her what If I don’t wake up, what If I die in my sleep from a heart attack, and all she does is groan and roll over and tell me to stop being so dramatic. Sometimes I wish that’s exactly what would happen so she could feel stabbing guilt.… more
Apology
FICTION by Pete AbleRather than someone she’d slept with during orientation, and twice more their first semester, he was now the kid brother she’d give life advice and hand-me-down Looney Tunes sweatshirts to.… more
The Biggest Chicago Bears Fan on the Block
FICTION by Lisa ThorntonWhat he knew about feelings: That you swallow them, push them down into your intestines so they can’t escape, so they lodge in that warm pink space where they belong—not on the street, not on people’s faces all stricken and blubbery and slobbering. … more
Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?
FICTION by Bobby BangertBronco Bill no longer felt the need to mount a bull just to feel the hands of other men on his body while he braced himself in the chute. His whole life the only way he could get close enough to other men was to prepare for violence.… more
Psychosis From the Greek Word Psykhe, Refers to a Person Who Has Lost Touch With? A – Fashion B – Time C – Family D – Reality
FICTION by Jo WithersLast time, he ate the goldfish in the psychiatrist’s office, but he sensed this was a bit tame, bordering on someone acting like they were having a breakdown rather than actually in the midst of one. Everyone had their own opinions of madness these days, it was like some bizarre performance review where you had to prove your insanity hadn’t slipped.… more
Goodbye, Mr Whiskers
FICTION by Frank JacksonAs the waves pushed out all the thoughts from his mind, an image like a dark and starry night started to take hold for him. Deep inside his concentration, an image came to him. One he hadn’t expected. “Mr. Whiskers?”… more
TARFU
FICTION by Dan RussellI wonder how long it’ll take for ’em to come on over the hill. I’ve got good cover. I can hold out a while. My hands are shaking. Not from fear, but from what I’ve got running through me. I never thought a night out would lead to me ending up here. She had every right to do what she did. I didn’t. They’re gonna find that out.… more
Game Night
FICTION by Robert Long ForemanPeople all over the world have been visibly satisfied for decades. Benito Mussolini was visibly satisfied. A lot of dictators are visibly satisfied, mostly with themselves, right up until they get strung up on lampposts, or shot in the head, or whatever.… more
Bagged
FICTION by Duncan TierneyThe sleeping bag had writhed, a kissing thing, a succubus, mad like a salted eel. I’d seen that. For days now I’d seen it and let it happen. Too scared to scream. What a stupid terror, I hold in me, shrinked cold and half-gone. Tonight it dines.… more
