Don’t blame yourself that you expected the bartender’s age to equate to maturity. It’s not your fault that your dad died four months ago and he never showed you an example of a good man anyway. It’s not your fault that you’re the worst kind of cliche now.… more
Tag Archives: Travel
Holiday
FICTION by Amita BasuWhen you’re stoned, you realize: separate bodies, separate consciousnesses—that’s an illusion. There is only One. We were one with the bus stumbling up the mountainside. My nausea was one with Manisha’s. I wasn’t yet nauseous: not need-a-lime nauseous: but I felt Manisha’s nausea exactly as, soon, I’d feel my own. Soon? Already I was feeling it.… more
Waiting for It
CREATIVE NONFICTION by Joseph BardinThe speaker says something about are you doing what you want in your life, or are you believing in yourself, or something along those lines, and I may as well have been struck by lightning, because the answer, I realize, in no uncertain terms is no, I’m not.… more
holy land of jeans
FICTION by MICHAEL CHANGThe Artisan understands that Japanese designers have a fetish for iconic, old-timey Americana—cowboys, most notably, and Wild West mystique. In a store he sees a photo of the gay-bashing war criminal Ronald Reagan in full cowboy regalia, spurs and all, presumably a marketing image from one of his shitty films. … more
Wild/Life
CREATIVE NONFICTION by Christopher LockeTraveling Mexico has its own challenges. So why do I always want to crank the danger up to 11?… more
One Bird In-Hand is Worth Ten in the Bush
FICTION by Michael HammerleMy grandma was glaring at Trixie’s fixings willing her to lie in the neat bed she’d made. Pearl was lying on her back with that piece of wood in her mouth. She was dusty and had her straw bedding stuck to her in small patches, some on her underbelly. All of her paws were outstretched to the sky. She was letting the piece of wood fall from her mouth and recatching it. Trixie’s phone was face-up flat on the dining table. The phone rang and we all looked to her expecting it to be Croker. Trixie quickly silenced it. … more
Bittermoon
FICTION by Joel WayneDrunk and jealous in an exotic locale, he wonders: “What’s the opposite of a honeymoon?”… more
Pallbearers
FICTION by Tim Buchanan“By saying yes in spite of the dangers, I felt I made myself vital and trusted. And was this not what a good American was supposed to do when making friends abroad? To open themselves up to new experiences, to say yes as much as possible, even when the proposition was frightening?”… more
One Hundred Twenty Sunny Nights
FICTION by Justin HerrmannBefore I left Illinois, I told Julie I needed to do this once, meaning Antarctica, not adultery. More and more I don’t know what I want in this world.… more
Fiesta!
GENRE NON-BINARY by Michael J OrsonA visit to the Fiesta of San Fermin, made famous by Hemingway, reveals it’s just as decadent and depraved as ever.… more
