I thought maybe they were canceling operations. Or maybe terminating my contract. For good this time. Real good. Maybe they wanted to do it in public, make a big show of it. I’d rather they handle these matters in private, in some musty old brick warehouse somewhere, in some back alley, on a secret plane to nowheresville, maybe tossing my body out over a swamp. There is a dignity to that, a flair to it.… more
Tag Archives: War
The Biggest Chicago Bears Fan on the Block
FICTION by Lisa ThorntonWhat he knew about feelings: That you swallow them, push them down into your intestines so they can’t escape, so they lodge in that warm pink space where they belong—not on the street, not on people’s faces all stricken and blubbery and slobbering. … more
Boys in the Hall
CREATIVE NONFICTION by Kristy BellThat morning, we all nodded and chuckled, smug in our assessment that the pilot of that first airplane screwed up. Tragic, but not much different than a navigational error that ran a ship aground. It was unfortunate, certainly, as lives were undoubtedly lost. But heads would roll, and we’d move on.… more
The Second Generation, Then the Third
FICTION by Joseph WeinerI said to my wife on our first date, I’m not a nice guy. She says, Yes you are. I say, No, really, I’m not. She says, I’ll make you into a nice guy. I say, You can’t stuff two pounds of broken bones into a one-pound bag. Some people hurt too much. She says, I’ll make you into a nice guy.… more
Trauma Bonds
FICTION by Sara NovicMy family had been killed; yours had lived. But there was pressure in that, that grateful weight.… more
Art’s Wife
FICTION by Ken RodgersHis eyes blinked like a machine gun’s stutter. He swirled his Chivas and mumbled something—I couldn’t hear it well over the racket of wild fucking in the bedroom. Maybe he said, “Mother would never have written that.”… more
Casualty of War
FICTION by Garth WolkoffAt the end there, we couldn’t stop talking about Kamikazes. … more
Anchor Detail
FICTION by Kristy BellI lifted a quick prayer for that fisherman, even as I watched him throw his back into reversing his course. What chance does a little guy have in this world, you know?… more
Memoir by way of catalogue
GENRE NON-BINARY by STEVE COMSTOCKWhen I flew home on leave some lady in an airport told me I was lucky we were pretty much done fighting over there. When I got back to Alabama everybody was still shopping and laughing like nothing ever happened. I’d say something about being in the Army and someone would inevitably thank me for my service, but they couldn’t tell me anything about Afghanistan, or the war, or what I was doing there. What the fuck were they thanking me for?… more
Gordo on the 4th of July
FICTION by William GatewoodAn idea I’ve been mulling all night catches and burns through my stomach.… more
