FictionJoe and the Golden Retriever by Clive Aaron Gill
Tears trickled down Joe’s cheeks into his gray beard. The 75-year-old widower lay alone in a hospital bed in La Jolla, California after he had received a heart-valve transplant. Tubes in his…
Fiction
FictionForever by Chanacee Ruth-Killgore
What kind of man lives near the ocean and can’t swim? He flinched uncontrollably at the thought, the flash of memory. He’d watched her drown, stood very nearly where he was standing…
FictionThe Seventh Crow by Chip Jett
One crow means sorrow, Two crows mean joy, Three crows a wedding, Four crows a boy. Five crows mean silver, Six crows mean gold, Seven crows a secret That’s never been told.…
FictionRemembering Tom Petty
(1950-2017) It was 1985 and I was a sixteen-year-old Adonis, washboard abs, a face that made grown women swoon, and more swagger than Mick Jagger on his best day, except that I…
FictionForehand by Conor O’Sullivan
Forehand Luke and Patrick stood on a patch of grass facing away from the row of white painted cottages. A family walked down to the beach, carrying a picnic basket and towels…
FictionThumbs Up! by Alan Swyer
Thumbs Up! Having scoured articles and blogs galore, plus advice columns and rants on Facebook, Resnick knew it wasn’t meant to work this way. The key to Hollywood – to getting an…
FictionScales by Jim Meirose
Scales “Come in!” came a voice. Hurley went in and confronted a bald, well-built man in a wife-beater undershirt with an electric guitar strapped on, playing scales slowly, with no amplifier, to…
FictionWhether by Robert E. Donohue
Whether The sanitation trucks gather from around the city. They bear down on the narrow residential streets of Queens, moving masses of slush and debris from the past week’s back-to-back storms, opening…
FictionPieces of Moves by Samuel Cole
Pieces of Moves Another long pause. The man—let’s call him Theodore Castle—folds the newspaper and throws it in the trashcan. The woman—let’s call her Jocelyn Castle—finishes the coffee and lifts the newspaper…
FictionLydia-F by Bruce Levine
Lydia-F The discovery of the TRAPPIST-1 solar system and seven planets 40 light years from earth re-ignited Bryce Danford’s desire to become an astronomer. Too poor to go to college full time…
FeaturesThe Smoke (Break) by John Riebow
The Smoke (Break) The sun danced through the swaying branches of the Serviceberry trees as the two young women plopped themselves onto a green bench, pulling cigarette packs from their purses. They…
FeaturesR.I.P. Lucky Robert Pearlman by Brandon Jenkins
R.I.P. Lucky Robert Pearlman Robert Ian Pearlman was a statesman and prolific writer. He had spent the better part of forty-nine years telling stories of oppression, revenge, greed, dominance and ultimately, triumph.…
FeaturesThe Nuisance-at-First by John Gabriel Adkins
The Nuisance-at-First Powerline Andy is voice-strong, and he hand-dangles from black cables about twenty-nine feet away, yelling at you. And you can’t get closer—Andy and his cables are always about-twenty-nine feet away,…
FictionGypsy Moth Summer by Patricia Flaherty Pagan
Gypsy Moth Summer All I really heard was “accident” and “your brother.” The music vacuum had clued me in that something was wrong. There was no Carole King, no Don McLean, not…
FictionMy Savior by Alex Doe
My Savior When I flunked tenth grade for the third time, my parents gave up on me. They kicked my ass to the curb with suitcase in hand, and I don’t blame…
FeaturesThe Start of Something by Mark Plummer
The Start of Something The last stains of night linger on the clifftops like an old bruise as Matt pulls the car into the layby. He cuts the engine and immediately there’s…
FictionThe Ruins by Alexandra Hinojosa
The Ruins Lucia’s eyes looked through the viewfinder at the green and blue contrast of the coast. The car window was rolled down. The wind tousled her hair. She stared, not daring…
FictionLike the Hopper Man by Vincent Barry
Like the Hopper Man Tonight, I turn on the ‘Easy Listening’ channel and shadow dance under an old moon breaking improbably through half-opened, weathered window shutters. As I do, I retreat into…
FictionUgly Homes by Adam Michael Nicks
Ugly Homes Another chilly, late spring evening where trees struggled to keep pace with the racing approach of summer. Rough, elephant hide bark hid crooning birds, busy building where twig tips tickled…
FictionAll the Sickos by Anna Cates
All the Sickos Holding the sleeping infant on her shoulder, she gazed peacefully at her surroundings. Tourists wandered in and out of stores, an old man was setting up his easel beside…