Annie will shoot you in the back. She will cross a galaxy if it means she will have the last laugh. But she would never sit still, parlay and hang around in orbit, even if it meant saving the day. She would sooner kill the alien that comes in peace than share her world with its people.… more
Category Archives: FICTION
Newcomers
FICTION by Shelby RaebeckThe two brothers sat idling in the empty parking lot, sipping their beers and peering ahead to where the truck’s lights shone into the blackness.… more
Snow Globe on the Pulaski
FICTION by Jackie CorleyHail pelted the bus. Jasper could feel the bus shift with the wind, and his window rattled against the rubber casing. He was on a bridge over a hundred feet in the air, open to the elements but he felt claustrophobic. The sun had set an hour ago and he could only see a few sets of taillights bleeding out in front of him while the storm raged.… more
So Much For Love
FICTION by Jody LisbergerNear the door, an older woman stops to ground out her cigarette underfoot. She looks me up and down as she twists real hard, like she could put out all the fires in the world. Me in my khakis, flannel shirt, and a borrowed wool coat. I clutch the invitation in my hand. “Hey, I’m here for love,” I want to say. “You got a problem with that?” … more
A Pink Glow Like Mist
FICTION by Max-Tate ForestThey’re loyal to you. They’re lonely men whose entire life revolves around a 20 by 10 screen. I know you can’t imagine what that’s like, neither can I, but can we both rationally consider the aftermath? You… go away, their screen goes empty, and there’s nothing. They’re cold and empty husks. What do you think happens when people don’t have anything left to live for? They kill other people, or themselves.… more
The Engineer’s Tale
FICTION by Ankit Raj OjhaThe world didn’t end in 2012, but reason surely left his body when he fell for that girl. Shrikanth once asked Dharmesh how he met his girlfriend. Motherfucker went on and on till the cock roosted at dawn. Binod’s has stopped roosting since 2012.… more
We Had Fun
FICTION by Sean-Taro NishiBecause of the tumor we had to leave our sister Angela behind on our trip to Disney last summer. It was sad because it was on her birthday too, but by then she was too sick to even get out of bed, and plus the charity gave us all free tickets and they had an expiration date.… more
Bubbleclear
FICTION by Benjamin Ray AlleeSo Glen found himself, once again, at the cusp of non-belonging. Staring at the insignificance that had been his home since grade school, a dark, smothering smallness he’d finally overcome by getting into Barber & Matheson as a technical writer seven years ago.… more
Never Gone
FICTION by Jody Hobbs HeslerDuring court proceedings, the advocate she’d been assigned kept telling her that everything Ronnie did was his fault. Only his. She re-played that message in her mind until she believed it. Or mostly believed it. But people judge. You can see it in their eyes, a calculation of how much trouble knowing you is worth.… more
Clicky Rib
FICTION by Jane O'SullivanEvery time I heard that click, I couldn’t help imagining that drawer in her chest. That compartment sliding out. Sometimes I pictured skin, other times it was slippery as liver.… more
