His woefully small son’s failure to thrive put the fear of God in burly Boston cop Pete O’Malley, spooked him witless, unnerved him, unmanned him. He felt it in his marrow. They were into some seriously fucked up shit with a seven-year-old boy failing to thrive and needing a shrink twice a week.… more
Category Archives: FICTION
Lies I Tell My Daughter
FICTION by Josh CookTruth: Middle of the night, after Leila had finally gone to sleep after a four-hour stand-off I grabbed the kitty piano from her toy bin in the living room, slinked through back door, slid into the garage, and smashed the fucker with a hammer.… more
The Love Song of Child-of-Water
FICTION by Tommy CheisThat night, sadder and wiser, singing of Sun, Cloud, Wind, Lightning, and Water, we buried Ina where white men will never go and Creator will never tell.… more
The Blue Dot That is Alice
FICTION by kaci nevesThe dot on the map remains unmoving as Alice stares off into the grayness of the clouds, at the bare branches of the trees covered in lichen, at a security camera that has no footage of her brother because it’s just a hunk of plastic—a decoy—and then Alice gets a call from his wife.… more
The Jim Jones Review
FICTION by Kanako OkironThe two shots were exactly how the newscasters described it that day. There was no sequence of one following the other, nor a riveting minutia whence bullets rang out proper. It just was.… more
Racing Stripes
FICTION by Don FosterI don’t take offense because I don’t remember my mother, but it wouldn’t matter anyway because Brandon weighs about two of me, and I’m not much of a scrapper. I pop the tab and take a long pull. I drag my forearm across my top lip. “Just because Taco Bell has a breakfast menu,” I tell him, “doesn’t mean you should take advantage of it.”… more
Marriage
FICTION by Mark RogersIt’s a quiet moment in Mexico. There are always a few such moments of total silence dispersed throughout the afternoon. Other times it’s the sound of the water pump grinding into action, or snatches of banda music, children’s voices. One thing after another. But it’s quiet right now—uncomfortably so.… more
Another Way To Be
FICTION by Harrison KimArno thought this cannot go on forever, it’s our fourth date and she seems happy, though the sun is hot on the back of my neck. So he strengthened his willpower, kept things steady, despite the traffic distractions and her weight. They looked into each other’s eyes and Mandy asked, “Am I too heavy?”… more
Natural Selection
FICTION by Shannon ShreibakI don’t usually hitch a ride with strangers, especially ones I’m about to allow inside me. But the right combination of sleeplessness and alcohol can persuade me to make some compromises, and tonight, I’m feeling particularly weak-willed.… more
Couple Skate
FICTION by Dixon SpeakerAnd as I sat down on one of those curved orange seats you can’t find any place but a place like this I thought about how much can happen in the span of a Mariah Carey song.… more
