FictionDevil’s Bird Comes Ahead of Bad Weather by Jamey Genna
Toki and I are sitting on the beach at Half Moon Bay when he spots a devil’s bird. Toki says, “Look, there’s a devil’s bird.” I look in the direction he points…
Fiction
FictionThe Lost Belt by Jamey Genna
She was looking for the belt that said Jim on the back of it, the belt with the scorpion belt buckle. It was black-and-grey leather, handmade in the ‘70s, the name Jim…
FictionClean Fill Needed by Erin Smith
Elwood lifted the withered, wood board from the tall weeds and propped it against the sagging fence. The black, uneven letters dripped down the jagged sign: “CLEAN FILL NEEDED.” He absently plucked…
FictionA Red Light District by Isaac Eustice
I walked back to her condo in the rain. Well, technically it wasn’t her condo, it was her roommate’s condo, Antony. His mother owned it and rented it out to him, and…
FictionGold Teeth by Bill Melton
My paternal grandmother had a full set of dentures. What I remember most about her teeth were the two prominent gold ones you saw every time she smiled. As curious children are…
FictionOur Lady of the Harbor by Robert Walton
The woman’s corpse clutched a tattered blanket in already skeletal fingers. Pink ponies cavorted between smudges of mud and blood. She was somewhere between forty and eighty, but death made her seem…
FictionBalance By Chanacee Ruth-Killgore
Owen squeezed through the open window, feet first, and carefully lowered himself onto the awaiting limb. He’d watched his daughter do this years ago when she was young and wild and obviously…
FictionHi! How Are You? By Anita G. Gorman
Martha was getting tired of it. Tired of all the people who no longer said hi, but always said, “Hi, how are you?” When did it become a requirement to ask everyone…
FictionWhere’s Molly? By Andrew Miller
Anxious travelers clustered around the counter, piles of suitcases strewn throughout the lobby, blasts of cold air from the entranceway, the guttural rasping of snow plows as they clattered down the street.…
FictionNight Chill By Suzanne Cottrell
As first-time parents, sleep deprived Matt and Margot were over protective, checking on Lizzy numerous times throughout the night. Even though they had a baby monitor and guardian Golden Retriever, Sherman, they…
FictionSunday is Always Tomorrow By Jim Gustafson
But since reform’d by what we did amiss We, by our sufferings, learn to prize our bliss. ~Astraea Redux, John Dryden Father McNally is 40 and without hope. He can’t show it.…
FictionA Cup of Tea By Bruce Levine
“Would you like a cup of tea?” It was an innocuous enough line. Tiffany Braxton read and re-read the single line she had written. It was perfectly simple and said what it…
FictionGarlic Boy By Jonathan B. Ferrini
The screams and cries are loudest at night, and they aggravate the inmates who encourage the predators and fantasize about the fate of the prey. It isn’t long before “Om Mani Padme…
FictionLegendary By Alyssa Murphy
I wasn’t quite sure why my boss decided that Thursday-night karaoke would be a real moneymaker. Then again, Laura was prone to unusual decisions that worked better than anyone expected (see: serving…
FictionDriving Home By Nina Clapperton
The deserted highway was lit only by our headlights as the car sped towards Toronto. It seemed that no one else had planned to drive back to the city after consuming copious…
FictionLetters from the Dead By Christopher Love
In the late August of 1944, my great-grandmother received a letter from my great-grandfather. He was already dead. He’d been killed a month or so earlier in the Normandy invasion. The letter…
FictionThe Oldest Bar in Alaska By Justin W. Price
He shot the whiskey, felt it worm down his throat and warm his belly. He asked for another. On a small stage, the band played Eric Clapton, but not with the passion,…
FictionInescapable By Thomas Elson
I love it when I invade people and they’re still ignorant. They feel the need to rush off and learn all about me and their options. But you do know about me.…
FictionWhy Vincent van Gogh Only Sold One Painting by Martin Lindauer
“How come you never sold any of your work, Mr. Go.” “Call me Vince, young fella’. That way you won’t keep mispronouncing my name. It’s Gogh, pronounced Goff.” The young interviewer from…
FictionBonding by Mike Sherer
Have you ever had a little baby duckling cuddle up to you? I’m not talking about a pet. I mean an animal raised in the wild. A park ranger told me a…