December 11, 2018 | Fiction
Two Stories
Fiona Foster
Trigger
Up north she took her daughter for a walk to see the woods. Their host’s big yellow dog came along. The snow was deep. The dog was off and ranging. She crept under a fir tree and showed her
December 10, 2018 | Fiction
The Dormitory
Rob Walsh
At midnight there was a knock on our door, and though our hallmates often knocked at this hour
December 7, 2018 | Fiction
THE JUNGLE BURIED IN REFLECTED LIGHT IS CALLING TO YOU
Jason Reed-Mundell
The film was a Disney re-release, full of rollicking creatures with wide-flung arms emitting human sounds through smiles that hummed and flickered like radio speakers. Blake was too drunk to follow what was going on, but he ate his popcorn and drifted in and out of sleep, and the things were laughing and singing to him.
The Ring (excerpt from Bengal Lights)
Kirk Michael
We stepped into a washroom and I looked longer at the ring on her finger. “It’s just for starters.” She opened the tap of the industrial sink and drank sideways, water slipping down her chin. She
Boy Witch
Greg Marshall
My homework, which I assigned to myself, the way kids do sometimes, consisted of hobbling around my room in a witch hat, practicing spells on my shoes.
The Care and Feeding of Growing Things
Margaret Spilman
Her husband had grown the jalapeños in the backyard along with shy heirloom tomatoes and a few anemic cucumbers. He’d tried lettuce and even Sugar Baby watermelons but, at the first sign of ripeness,
An Interview With Leah Dieterich
Rebecca van Laer
Leah Dieterich:’s Vanishing Twins A Marriage came onto my radar when I saw it described as a Barthes-like book of fragments about an open marriage. As I read it, I discovered that it’s a book about
You're So Fucking Dull and I'm a Shadow
Marston Hefner
I ate the steak violently because that was how I loved, and a love this intense must always be met with more.
My Old Man Poems (from 'Elizabeth Ellen')
Elizabeth Ellen
I thought Roger Waters was full of shit, I mean
Three Ways To Escape The Trunk of a Car
Cara Dempsey
1. Pull the Release
Before opening the trunk, consider the world outside of it. Think of the miles of hot asphalt rolling underneath you. Think of the many men in the many other cars who might
The Third Floor
Lauren Lauterhahn
If I had to take a shit that meant I had to go downstairs. I didn’t have a specific aversion to leaving the attic— I just never felt like getting out of bed. Also, the second floor toilet got clogged
Steal One Thing From Work Every Day
Joseph Parker Okay
Tori hugged the tree and went home and immediately started petting her dog
Unsubscriptions
Joanne Oh
Do 4.1% and 103,000 Mean Anything to You? Are you 18-45? You could join our hepatitis vaccine study. *Donations will be accepted at the door* courtesy of Artificial Eye.
See what’s new: Bat brain
Heart Sutra
Maria Genovese
The slow stacking of weight or the flinging down of a toe while the torso is already ahead. There are always new body parts to hit on sides of doors. I like to put my legs into pants in front of an open window, then stick my head out to see who’s around.
Five Stories
Bram Riddlebarger
The gas station sat on the corner like a tasteless cheeseburger.
Elderly Primigravida
Gessy Alvarez
Dr. Sandoval asked if I was planning on having children.
Man on Phone at Gas Station
Sarah Edwards
O Build-A-Bonfire, O
Blue Subaru
Girl On Girl
Emily Costa
The story is usually backstabbing of some kind.
On Getting a Facial at the Strip Mall
Sarah Carson
My sister has been reading a lot about her pores lately. At the moderately priced tourist town spa where we've met for the weekend, a commercial for the dual action microdermabrasion brush comes on the television above the hot wax station, and she swears their blackhead diagram is incomplete.
"Talkin' Bout Practice": Follow Through
Alyssa Oursler
In my favorite bookstore in a city where I no longer live, there’s a sign for sale that says: when in doubt, turn left. I don’t remember the name of the gym where I spent my adolescence, but I could
The Pot and Its Handle
Susanna Space
In the spring of 1989 an asteroid the size of the Empire State Building crossed Earth’s orbit.
Dispatches From Humanity
Chris Oxley
Then it came time to open said package of Twizzlers