A thought rippled through the formless mass. When it reached Zamba’s being, it tickled. She tried to block it from entering her psyche, but it was too strong. “Hello, my name is Becky. Will you be my friend?” Zamba had… Continue Reading
If I hadn’t lost my job, I wouldn’t be wearing a dead man’s clothes. If I hadn’t punched my supervisor, I’d still be a wage slave. With my new circumstances, all my duds come from a second-hand store. But with… Continue Reading
Emory ran the numbers and frowned: 20.1K Instagram followers, a 3.98 GPA, and zero boyfriends. How had she gone through four years of chemistry classes and emerged with only a handful of disastrous first dates? Picking up her glitter-encrusted phone,… Continue Reading
Wayne Reynolds sits on the floor of his apartment. He is in front of his coffee table, rubbing the smallest of dust particles from the surface. He knocks over a stack of student essays on the floor. Wayne Reynolds is… Continue Reading
He plucked his toothbrush from its perch, fixating for a moment on the black ceramic holder adhered to the tile wall just above the bathroom sink. He counted the holes: one, two, three — the recurring ache crept into his… Continue Reading
The mushrooms are poisonous, but locals eat them, says the Gastronome Guide to Ireland. I’m not a foodie. I plucked this guide from a free magazine stand at the Ballybunion bus station, and now I’m curious. “Have you tried inkcap… Continue Reading
Mary is woken by her two little boys. They are already fighting in their bedroom. She can hear objects crashing, bodies tumbling, chaos coming. *** When Julia wakes up, she takes the sheets and the thin summer blankets to shake… Continue Reading
Writer’s block. I never thought I would have it again. But days passed, and I would type out a sentence and edit it down to two words. It’s the pulps, I told myself. A penny a word — by now,… Continue Reading
Autumn is a terminal season. It signals the end of many things — vacation, summer, longer days. In my case, autumn also brings about the termination of my employment. Today is my last day at what the locals call “the… Continue Reading
It was the end of the day in the dermatologist’s office. Only I and another masked patient remained in the socially-distant minor procedure waiting room. When the receptionist summoned a woman to complete paperwork, she called a name that even… Continue Reading