I was flattered. R__ had read my novel. Not many had. And then she had both texted and emailed me. It wasn’t hard to read between these lines. She needed me.… more
Category Archives: FICTION
Cut Deep
FICTION by Philip CharterI saw him around town, dragging his right arm like a plank of wood. And over the years, it grew thin. That was the beginning of the bad times—farmers moving to the city. No need for a small bar with a smashed-up fruit machine.… more
500
FICTION by Michael TavalerEight years Morgan and his wife Nancy had not been intimate, avoiding even the most incidental physical contact. Then, on the 27th of March at 9 PM, Morgan found himself in hand restraints, his back pinned against the bars of his four-poster, gasping for air with Nancy’s right breast sealing both his nostrils.… more
101 Worms
FICTION by Colton HuelleIn the backyard of his brand-new, post-divorce tiny house, David Cale is stuck up to his armpits in a compost barrel. Is it possible, he wonders, for a human body to decompose while still alive?… more
The florist
FICTION by Tomas romeroTricky bastard. You felt so real and nourishing. I felt special for breathing you. You whipped up blast of glossy plastic, hair polish and synthetic serotonin, you’re eating me from the inside! Eventually I won’t be more than a bag of bones cased in smooth skin and designer clothes. Only my dick and vocal chords will work. Halfheartedly at that.… more
Fourth Step
FICTION by J. Malcolm GarciaI did a lot of things. I was a drunk and a meth head, she said. I’m better now. Not perfect but better. You know what it’s like. I do, I said, but I never wanted to touch a child.… more
Goldschmidt’s Gift
FICTION by David SheskinBy this point in time his tennis game had degenerated into little more than an ill-conceived, albeit skillful, vendetta, the intent of which was to extinguish as many members of the human race as possible.… more
A GRACEFUL ESCAPE
FICTION by Magda PhiliShe took another long stressful sip from her drink and clanked the glass on the table. It could be seconds before her wrath exploded according to her husband’s prediction. But she didn’t stay. Instead, she fled to the attic and to the only world that made sense to her.… more
The Masks at McCarthys
FICTION by Gregg WilliardIt seemed to me that there was an imprint of a lost me on the inside of a certain, special mask. A me that wasn’t lost and afraid. Could I find the right mask? Maybe it didn’t exist, and maybe there was no me to find at all.… more
CAN WE STOP WITH ALL THE HITLER?
FICTION by Kurt BaumeisterYou have to love the Germans, their national sense of humor at least. One part British stodge, one part French aloofery, they’re unmoved by the banal jokes Americans love. But give them a hulking sexecutioner in black polythene and a Hello Kitty mask, and they’ll yuck it the fuck up.… more
