AN OLD FRIEND • by Rayna Wilson
There’s a side of his face that’s prettier than the other. No part of him is dull or ugly, but one side is more vibrant. It’s his right side.Don’t get me wrong — a world in which only his left… Continue Reading
friendship
WILD GARLIC SEASON • Susannah Atkinson
They were seventeen, sunburned and tipsy on lukewarm cider, sprawled in long grass above Selsley Common. Below them, rooftops caught the last gold light. It smelled of warm earth and crushed cow parsley. Lina flicked a stolen lighter under a… Continue Reading
A BLAST FROM THE PAST • by Martin Reid Sanchez
My friend Julio wears many faces. He can be elusive, and sometimes disappears for months at a time. But I always find him in the end. We first met while working at a slowly failing startup. I was drawn to… Continue Reading
RUNNING DOWN THE HILL • by Yazen Masoud
We’d run down the green hill, holding hands. Laughing. Euphoric. The moist grass splashing between our toes. My mom would leave money on the console table under the keys. We’d slip on some shoes, extract the few dollar bills, and… Continue Reading
PLAY ME FOR IT • by Brittney Lynn
Will threw back the hood of his Sonic the Hedgehog sweatshirt, so he could see better. He took his fighting stance, his shoes flashed blue lights. Emma’s tiny, pink nails disappeared as she curled them into a fist and rested… Continue Reading
KIM • by Joy Lanzendorfer
Whenever Kim came over, she asked for milk. She drank glass after glass, the white liquid glugging down her long throat. They only drank powdered milk at her house, Kim explained. My family was poor, but Kim’s dad had been… Continue Reading
TO LIVE OR LAST • by Ginger Strivelli
Lotus was sitting on the old bridge the land cars had used to cross the Ganges a hundred years before. She sat fearlessly on the crumbling old metal structure, her legs dangling out a rusted away gap. She was swinging… Continue Reading
ONE HUNDRED POEMS • by Dart Humeston
“I don’t understand poetry,” Sam told Leonard, his best friend since elementary school. “Yeah. Who does?” Leonard replied, chuckling. The two of them were sitting in lawn chairs in Sam’s back yard, watching the barbeque fire get hot enough for… Continue Reading
NO SWIMMING AFTER DARK • by Kristen Ray
After midnight, still eighty-eight degrees and humid, we pulled bikes from the garage of our rental house and headed out, wheels spinning down the same tree-lined avenues we rode when Jeannie and I were twenty. In those dog days of… Continue Reading
EVILS OF SORCERY • by Monica Goertzen Hertlein
At Rodor’s signal, the executioner swung his axe. It cut through flesh and bone and buried in the wooden block with a vibrating thunk. The sorcerer’s head landed in the dirty street. Rodor gestured with one meaty hand for guards… Continue Reading