I last touched your skin six weeks ago. Except… I didn’t really. That skin I touched you with has been shed. This body has never really touched you. That moment is gone and it could only ever have been kept alive by renewal, by touching you again. And I can’t. You’ve slipped through my fingers forever.… more
Tag Archives: Relationships
Stand Close
FLASH FICTION by Marshall BoodAll that winter my apartment was a rocking boat. I decided to slip notes underneath the doors of my disputing neighbours. I let them all know, anonymously, whose sides I was on. My choices were random, but I felt like taking some sort of an action.… more
Half a Foot of Shade
FLASH FICTION by Harris QuinnShe was ten weeks pregnant and we had plenty of time to legally do it. She was ready to be done though, and she was beautiful walking away from me down that hot sidewalk, sweating a little, yanking on her purse strap, grinding her heels into every step as though she could push more of the world between us with each footfall.… more
In Memoriam—Mr Finkel’s Birthday Cake
FLASH FICTION by Rebecca FieldMr Finkel’s Malteser birthday cake, aged 5 hours, passed away between 6 and 6:25pm on 23rd April 2024. Weighing up the facts like baking ingredients, Mrs Finkel decided that her husband absolutely did not deserve a birthday cake, much less the effort she had put into creating it.… more
a reply in five sonnets, which are not sonnets, or even poems, & whatever this is—a rant? a screed? a manifesto against you leaving me & entering an MFA program?—it is not easily divisible into five sections
FLASH FICTION by Christopher LinforthI love you like the first sip of White Claw / the last toke on a spliff / but without you I’m an unloved TikTok dance / a husked soul with spaghetti arms / open & ready for you / so take me back / the viraless meme that I am.… more
The Scent of Daffodils
FLASH FICTION by Catherine RobertsTo confront your suspicions, go to paragraph 4. To trust this is just paranoia and finish breakfast with your family, go to paragraph 5.… more
Whatever Happened Next
FICTION by Charlie KondekInto the ecosystem had recently been injected another species of working poor high school kids. On the minds of all of them that summer – when was Kacie’s old boyfriend going to fight Kacie’s new boyfriend?… more
Opening Upward Like Wings
FICTION by Joel James DavisThree ducks fly over, a lawnmower growls, and Anson Senior has not yet arrived for the exchange. The exchange is what Meredith actually calls it. In front of people, no matter who is listening.… more
Trauma Bonds
FICTION by Sara NovicMy family had been killed; yours had lived. But there was pressure in that, that grateful weight.… more
A Loss of Appetite
FICTION by Angelica WilliamsScanning my panicked eyes around the area, I finally spot them—two shadows taking complementing footsteps underneath the moonlight. They’re walking along the street and away from the restaurant, away from me. Her fingers cling at his bicep and he stares down at her like she’d vanish if he dared to blink. Every single muscle in my body—including my heart—turns to stone.… more
