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
Stories
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
TAKE ME WITH YOU • by John Biglands
I step into the comfort of the ancient woods. I push deeper into their tangled darkness. I need to be lost, to be far away from the world, my home, my family. Somewhere I cannot be found, somewhere I can… 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
TIME UNNOTICED • by Shera L. Hill
Elias never forgot the day. His mother sewed by the fire. His father oiled a saddle. He told the therapist, “I was twelve. I’d been ill. Measles. The fever shifted something. I remember all at once feeling my mother’s presence… 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
THE BARGAIN BIN AT PETMONSTER MARKET • by Jeff Gard
The front door creaks open as Cole leads Mother into PetMonster Market. An oppressive humidity smacks them in the face followed quickly by the scent of cedar chips, piss, and rotting fish. Now that Cole is thirteen, Mother has finally… Continue Reading
TALES OF 1001 NIITES — A CORPORATE PARABLE • by Peter Tyler
My division vice-president leaned back into a chair more fit for a throne room than an office. Fredric King’s well-tailored, charcoal grey suit set off his two-hundred dollar purple tie and corporate hair. The MBA diploma dominated one wall of… 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