As the vivid tones of ocean and sand gave way to a more downcast layer, the heat began to fade. Far-off, bronze spots clustered toward every conceivable entrance, carrying fluorescent lines.… more
Category Archives: FICTION
Wildcard Shorts
FICTION by Z.H. GillI suspect I won’t show my girlfriend this story or essay or whatever it is. I know this is wrong, but the “process” is what’s keeping me alive, I think. … more
Fat Camp Syllabus
FICTION by Matthew DexterI fractured my penis driving the Zamboni. Before that, my mother disowned me. Before that, I sat shaving my legs like floating dreams above the blue line where hockey players shouted prayers to toothless gods. Before that, my father broke my nose with his figure skate.… more
World’s Greatest Dad
FICTION by Preston LangIt was Father’s Day, and two men were fighting in the Dollarama parking lot. One had a shirt that said, “World’s Greatest Dad.” I didn’t know if that’s what started the fight, but a shirt like that is a provocation, and that guy was getting the worst of it.… more
Strong Swimmer
FICTION by Rebecca FieldThe man saved from drowning by a pod of dolphins wishes that everyone would stop going on about it. He is fed up with the requests for interviews; isn’t there any real news to report? He is sick of his mother saying he is lucky to be alive. If there’s one thing this experience has taught him, it’s that he’s a survivor, in fact he’s proven he’s pretty much invincible.… more
Toronto snow plow driver arrested
FICTION by Karen WalkerMy job is to scrape. Rich holiday shoppers and the cheap mall do not want snow. They want what’s underneath: an ugly, grey hardscape. Banished to the edges of society’s parking lot, snow drips and drips well into spring when everyone is May and buying sandals. Dirty snow, having as many problems as I do, lives longer than it wants. … more
Pay Day
FICTION by Sheree ShatskyI’m no good at this job, I feel too sorry for the people I call, they seem lonely. They ask me how old I am, say I sound young and ask me if I’m in college. What do you care, Peggy will say. Work the loneliness, take as long as it takes to milk sympathetic, you’re not being timed here, but at the end of the shift, you better by God have four leads ready to go.… more
The Risk of Man
FICTION by R. P. SingletaryThank God, he kept that punch to himself, gem worth savin, he thought again and almost laughed, but that would’ve been at himself his life his risk his fear and of course, she’d have known it was only for of about and at her, and he wasn’t mean, no not like that or any other, but if she didn’t understand then, she never would be worth any further explanation down the road, despite all they shared, the two things, the OK coffee and decent sex.… more
Jobber
FICTION by David CookMack had two roles. The first was to lose every match and the second was to ensure his opponent appeared like a winner, no, an alpha in the process. He was, in wrestling industry terminology, a jobber. No more than that. It would never be more than that. Not for him. Too skinny, the boss said. No abs, he said. Worse, no charisma. The other wrestlers got the wins. Mack didn’t.… more
Choreography of the Rind
FICTION by J.B. KalfIsaac Macedo’s daughter continued to mangle the spoon about in the pitcher of lemonade, trying to scoop out the fly that had landed in the fresh brew, each ripple and wave leaving the fly somewhere new, on some glacier, on some seed, still in the yellow meant to be swallowed. Isaac thought of taxidermy.… more
