People all over the world have been visibly satisfied for decades. Benito Mussolini was visibly satisfied. A lot of dictators are visibly satisfied, mostly with themselves, right up until they get strung up on lampposts, or shot in the head, or whatever.… more
Category Archives: FICTION
Bagged
FICTION by Duncan TierneyThe sleeping bag had writhed, a kissing thing, a succubus, mad like a salted eel. I’d seen that. For days now I’d seen it and let it happen. Too scared to scream. What a stupid terror, I hold in me, shrinked cold and half-gone. Tonight it dines.… more
Two Flashes
FICTION by Daniel J. CecilMy sister who is not my real sister is the first to understand that the spirit, who has disappeared, was a trickster. My sister is melting from scalp to toes. I tell my sister: everything will be ok. We are symbolically in tune.… more
Alone with the Stars
FICTION by Corey VillasHe sat on the curb, the gash in his cheek stinging and pulsating. Blood trickled down his face into the scruffy grey beard along his jaw. His head still spinning, unsure sure if it was from the punch that had laid him out or all the Jim Beam. He watched his breath as he exhaled, looked up and noticed the stars shining brightly. He felt small in that moment. Alone, yet not as alone as usual.… more
Bad Love
FICTION by Mike ItayaBefore Rhonda gave me dirty, funky love I had a cult of chia pets, I baked peanut brittle, and I sang in the falsetto register. But Rhonda took me below the stands and tweaked my nipples, poured Old Crow in my mouth, and dry-humped me senseless, while the marching band farted “Purple Rain.”… more
Oncoming Traffic
FICTION by Darlene EliotShe tells me I’m sweet. My ex used to call me sweet when she wanted something. There are two things I can’t stand. Shoveling snow and being called sweet. I hate the last one more, but it’s not so bad in this weather. And it’s not so bad when the right woman says it and all you did was get her a bottle of water.… more
Baby George
FICTION by Colin GeeBaby George was six years old and always messing around in the street, riding his one-speed around, staring at people, shouting questions, offering unsolicited advice whenever you had your hood up. If there had been a hobo circle on the block, chafing their hands around a barrel at midnight, Baby George would have been there telling stories about his babysitter Esmeralda.… more
Sharp Out of His Body
FICTION by Jason GraffTake it to Roy just like your father did for every car he ever owned. When still young enough to want to go everywhere with Dad, he’d take you with him. The sort of man who thinks there’s something to be learned from simply being in the general vicinity of people who work with their hands and are good at what they do.… more
Two Stories
FICTION by AJ AtwaterMummy leans in during wood tick checks, hair in a loose braid around her head. She cups our scrotums. Bounces them. Tests our heft. Weights our worth in her hands. Cops a feel. Steals from us.… more
Yacht Rock Mentor
FICTION by Rebecca GransdenI see myself in the twin mirrors of Gino’s knockoff Ray-Bans. My doppelgänger reflections resemble a lead singer who got fired from the band three years ago and hasn’t been seen in public since. There is the sense Gino’s eyes are smiling behind his lenses. “We’re taking a trip,” Gino says.… more
