Poetry gets rid of the chaff. We’re taught to not linger on the unnecessary. To hone something until it is bone on bone. And that absolutely helps in fiction. Writing is about making choices—what to leave in, what to include that may not seem obvious, and what to take out (lots).… More
The Last Ride
FICTION by Kate SjostrandWithin three weeks, he’d gone from six steady hands to eleven. Eight men, three women. Tattoos. Scars. Nervous smiles. Hard eyes. All of them wanting something….He respected that. Wanting something was how you stayed alive.… More
Santa Blues
FLASH FICTION by Swetha AmitI don’t know how to describe to this little boy that I’m not Santa, I’m just a 30-year-old guy without a chimney or a roof. That I sometimes rest my head on a friend’s couch for a day or even a week if I’m lucky. That I got this stint because of my friend who works here as kitchen staff.… More
The Work-From-Home Husband Makes Espresso
FLASH FICTION by Wanying ZhangYou’re sick of another “deep dive,” or “brain dump,” or a hollow call to “think outside the box.” You tell yourself to “buy in” to the mission to be a “trusted financial partner,” to “meet customer needs,” to “contribute to community well-being.” But you can’t even lie to yourself.… More
David’s Staring
FLASH FICTION by Henry MarkowitzLooking away was a breath of fresh air. A breath like the first after drowning, or after a passionate strangling by a pair of cold and dormant hands. Hands they’d rather not recall.… More
I Still Like The Way it Hurts
CREATIVE NONFICTION by Meredith AristoneI think that a lot of what I am, what I’ve always been, is inherently dirty, so I indulge the sickest parts of myself all at once, thinking that I’ll get so nauseous and so done with being me that they will leave my system in one fell swoop.… More
they call you to pick up his things
FLASH NONFICTION by Merridawn DucklerI say we can burn some incense, scatter something on water, bang a drum, make an incantation, what in your opinion will be an act that is life affirming? You say I think there’s a Harley-Davidson dealership around here.… More
When Are You Coming Home to Me?
FLASH FICTION by Jeffrey HermannEveryone on my new planet grows from what resembles a cactus flower. They bud and sprout. They unfold and then they begin the business of being loved and loving back. They cry when I tell them about money.… More
Detritus Catalogue
FLASH FICTION by Kip KnottThe bookshelf, crowded with urns full of past cats’ ashes: Ajax, Echo, Luna, and Midnights 1 through 3. The Papillon in my lap licking my bloody knuckles. The hole I punched in the wall next to the TV after watching the evening news.… More
Customer Service
FLASH FICTION by Catherine O'BrienHe doesn’t tell them that tomorrow is a hole so deep it cannot be measured. He doesn’t mention how he beats his his chest to try to excise the grief that sits there so stubbornly. He doesn’t because he is tired of the gooey treacle of sympathetic smiles.… More
COMPLEXION Part I: The Bedrock
CREATIVE NONFICTION by Shae AshTrauma doesn’t skip generations, it just changes clothes—passed down like the red velvet cake recipe, sweetened to survive.… More
