Clik here to view.
Chris Castle – Betsy’s Buttons
Betsy’s Buttons How did she do it? That was what Kristy Ambrose was thinking as she staggered into the bathroom that day. She ran her head under the cold tap and stepped into the shower. Somewhere,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Brendan McDonnell – Still
Still She was the prettiest girl you ever loved, but she tortured you like the Inquisition. She’d bawl that she loved you one minute, flirt with your friends the next. Every few weeks you’d break it...
View ArticleClik here to view.
MaryAnne Kolton – The Well: A Trilogy
The Well: A Trilogy I A Different Kind Of Summer —–They were at the summerhouse on the lake. Every year her father explained to her about the old well. —–“You mustn’t climb up there or remove the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
C.J. Arellano – Eating Several of One Thing
Eating Several of One Thing Ever since I was a kid, my mother and I knew my dad was attracted to men. My mom would stumble upon matchbooks with strange handwriting, phone calls, and, toward the end of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
M. E. McMullen – Dream Three
Dream Three They’re always throwing goodness at you, But with a little bit of luck, a man can duck. —Lerner and Lowe ‘If you’re six four and weigh two hundred eighty pounds, maybe you should give up...
View ArticleClik here to view.
M.E. McMullen – To Create Such a Thing
To Create Such a Thing To create such a thing requires a quality eluding precise definition. It requires the right combination, if you like, of insight and insanity. The silent rat-tat-tats of my...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Austin Eichelberger – On Having Faith
On Having Faith Mid-afternoon sunlight filtered into the Hayfords’ living room, throwing long, thin shadows across the carpet and softly illuminating objects in the room: the bookshelf, creased spines...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Vincent Chu – Rhubarb Pie
Rhubarb Pie The walls of his cubicle are particularly low. Ruben sits at his desk, his cornmeal oxford shirt crinkled and untucked at the hips, his white crew socks showing, his coiled black hair...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Frankie Carter – Pushover
Pushover When Will’s mother died, it took them a month to find his father. Ty Stewart was a tall, broad-shouldered fellow with the same riotous coffee-colored curls as Will; he was in the wine...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Yaron Kaver – The Troll
The Troll He considered the phrase “last meal” and the men it brought to mind—death row inmates on the eve of their execution and Jews on the eve of their Yom Kippur fast. And Jesus, he supposed, who...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dan Morey – Little Skulls
Little Skulls Eight old men are dying behind a curtain in Brendan’s hospital ward. What they’re dying of I can’t say. But they’re dying. You can smell it. Sometimes I go over and talk to them, but...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lila Cecil – First Kiss
First Kiss Outside, the wind is whirling past Twelfth Street making the Pin Oaks tremble and the branches of the Norway Maples bow. Scattering those many conduits of seed across the sidewalks. The rain...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Harold Stallworth – The Creaking Staircase
The Creaking Staircase Justin’s basement was an open-air museum of ‘90s pop culture. Action figures, cassette tapes, professional wrestling belts, 16-bit video game consoles — it was enough to send any...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Scott Jones – Lost Man in White Vinyl Gloves
Lost Man in White Vinyl Gloves The year 2010. He’s nothing I want to befriend, and I’m dripping in exhaustion, unable to rub two thoughts together. Spaced three feet apart, a gulf between us. A...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Siamak Vossooughi – Why
Why The way that a single man carries the human race is a mystery. Some men carry it so closely that they have a place to put the catastrophes of human behavior when they come their way. They have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jaryck P. Bezak – The Hillside
The Hillside A warm wind blowing in from the west made the exposed hairs of my legs and forearms sway and move. High in the sky the sun’s heat caused me to stir and slowly wake. My eyes opened and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cassia Gaden Gilmartin – So Damn Warm
So Damn Warm Under the blankets she shivers like she’s out in the snowstorm, not curled safe in our bed with the lights out. I close the door behind me, but I don’t move to warm her. She’s piled those...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mariah Montoya – The Green Shirt with the Cat on It
The Green Shirt with the Cat on It Green and purple and blue light streamed into the church through the pictures of lambs and Jesus with children sitting on his lap. The congregation consisted of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Amy Clark – The Strip
The Strip People make too much of dissociation—it’s a wonderful coping skill. Time honored, really. I’m not a multiple, mind you. It is just that if you need to touch my body, don’t worry; I have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gary J. Garrison – Thin
Thin Over the mountains the oil sky was splitting open, the yellow light crawling over the world. I stood sleepless at the end of the dock watching a flock of gulls float over the small swells, their...
View Article
