ZAYDE • by Julie L. Whitehead
I did not know my zayde was a writer until the day of my bat mitzvah in March 1989. Everyone was congratulating me on my bat mitzvah but also him on his newest book. For my bat mitzvah, he gave… Continue Reading
Literary
LOBSTER DINNER • by Heather Wilson
That summer I was sixteen. I had a job at a dog groomer’s. I cleaned clumps of hair out of shower drains. I brushed down show dogs. I clipped long, crescent shaped toenails, trying my hardest not to cut the… Continue Reading
FOUL • by Alan Vernon
One swing of the bat and a frozen rope laced foul from the barrel of a 32-ounce bat beaned my Dad straight in the left temple, and he crumpled in my lap. It was opening day. I was ten years… Continue Reading
BETWEEN BELLS AND RINGS • by Rory Crane Arnold
“A class ring is a great reminder of all the memories you made in school,” the man in the too-small suit said to me, holding out the gold ring. On it was the school crest: a shield and two striking… Continue Reading
ANOTHER PLEASANT VALLEY SUNDAE • by Adele Evershed
As Sian enters the café, she hears ABBA’s “Take A Chance On Me” playing softly. She pats her plastic purse, a superstitious tic to reassure herself she deserves to be there. It’s only since moving to the Valleys with her… Continue Reading
ESCAPE • by Wayne Scheer
The hum of the television, the chatter on cellphones, the unrelenting bass beat of the music made Alex uneasy. His eyesight was going, his hips ached, but his hearing remained fine. One of the little jokes God plays on old… Continue Reading
DIRTY DISHES • by Mary-Anne Nelligan
I really thought that Olivia and I were best friends. But, she didn’t make me a bridesmaid for her wedding. During her engagement party, the eight girls in her wedding party all wore matching bracelets. Rose gold and delicate. It… Continue Reading
THE BIRD BESIDE THE CHALICE • by Fiona M Jones
Maddelynne Baird stopped at the junction as usual, waiting for the lights. An early evening moon, whiter than all the laundry and shining tiled bathrooms of her workday, lifted her mood from weary to pensive. “This is where I stand,”… Continue Reading
TO YOU — THE WOMAN ON THE RUN • by Carrie Esposito
I turn my sunken cheek onto the warm concrete and see you down the sidewalk in your fluorescent shorts and tank top, squinting at my fallen body and calculating your odds of getting back to your run. Maybe you are… Continue Reading
THE GREAT TRANS-GAMBIAN ROAD • by Dan Hinge
If you asked Aliou what he wanted from life, he would know what to tell you. He would stand straight and say: “Sir, I want to go to university”. And he wouldn’t be lying. Not exactly. When his uncles were… Continue Reading