Once, after I shot up in a pizzeria’s bathroom and the owner glared at me as I walked past him, I went outside, lit a cigarette, took a drag. I had nowhere to go, nothing to do—except to find ways to get more dope.… more
Category Archives: FICTION
The Eye
FICTION by Mark RogersLuis watches as a Mexican rides up on an agitated horse. He reins his horse in at the edge of the hole and next to the dead sea lion. The frightened horse kicks and bucks a foot away from the grave’s edge. Luis thinks: The horse can smell death in the air.… more
We’re Proud of You, Darling
FICTION by Jake WilliamsI take the handle of the vice and turn it clockwise. It’s so close to my eyes it’s out of focus. The screw turns a little and the sliding jaw presses against the left side of my head. I breathe out as much as I can in one go. I hold the nothing as long as I can before I breathe in again. It’s part of the ceremony.… more
Lemon Tree
FICTION by Keith J. PowellDani says she’s not worried. One day she’ll go somewhere warmer. California, maybe. One day she’ll just be gone. “Just like that?” you ask. “Just like that,” she says. “People like us vanish all the time.”… more
Chalk Outline
FICTION by Patricia Quintana BidarThe downtown lights blazed in the evening air. Slouched behind the wheel, Ismael watched as Loretta’s staff—the few whose physical presence was deemed “essential”—broke at the lobby door and hunched to their cars. Loretta, gone for 15 cold days.… more
Pearls
FICTION by J. Edward KruftI told the priest about the tent sleepover in the backyard, about the bag of Funyuns and the Cherry Cokes and my suggestion that we zip our sleeping bags together to keep ourselves warmer and how his Funyuns breath made me giggle and how that caused my hand to brush closer to him than I otherwise might have.… more
TWO STORIES
FICTION by Eric TwaOur father told my brother, Justin, Everyone forgets regular people. So Justin declared his birthdays to be festivals for unregularity and then irregularity after being corrected, then back to unregularity for the sake of being unregular. He celebrated his 8th birthday by standing on his head, only to come down when our mom scolded him for not participating in duck-duck-goose.… more
Deeply Personal Vending Machine
FICTION by Sarp SozdinlerThe rumor has it there’s a vending machine on the corner of Kennedy and Main that lends an ear. Leona tells me it’s for real. Its buttons are the color of rust, she says, once possibly a brighter red. A tear sizzles down her cheeks as she squirms closer in bed. I once fed it a coin after my mother’s death and it gave me a quarter of her heart back.… more
GOOD TIMES IN HERMOSILLO
FICTION by Mather SchneiderArturo loves his motorbike. It’s good on gas. He’s always about town, popping in here and there, zip, zip, in and out of traffic, cutting corners, up on the sidewalk, he zigs and he zags, he zags and he zigs, he’s a bumblebee, big fat Arturo on his little motorbike, beep beep!… more
Always Coming Home
FICTION by E. N. DíazYou were unable to defend yourself against the accusations of your family members because the only defense you could think of was also a confession, and you were terrified.… more
