My wife’s mother has been with us for nearly a week. Our first few days home with our son were tough and we asked if she would fly in from the east. The request, we both agreed days before her arrival, was premature, erupting out of the seething stress following two nights in hospital after… more
Category Archives: Fiction
Higher Ground
Fiction by Julia HoganFor two weeks last fall, my friend Deno and I went into business together as snake removers. The reptiles had been flooded out of their normal recluses in the swamps and woods surrounding Meridian, and they had invaded people’s homes and gardens. Normally, I worked as a landscaper, HVAC repairman, and the odd handy man,… more
Where The Big Bad World Begins
Fiction by Justin ThurmanTall as the devil, they said. At thirteen. Wingspan of a rare stork. Hands fat as chuck steaks. He should have been ruining worlds, not having his own destroyed by a pint-sized Indian in a second-hand Raiders jacket.… more
Tightrope Walkers
Fiction by Steve LambertLucien primes the engine and watches a little slug of sweat glide down his shin and break against the ankle bracelet. This is a good, normal thing to do, he thinks. The edger starts on the third pull. He imagines taking a step over the invisible line, and them coming for him, sirens ablaze—maybe not… more
Bringing in the Hounds
Fiction by John MaukHe felt the impact in his gut—the punch of sympathy, something he’d conjured and reflected on over the years. You share in the death. You feel it knuckle into your midsection. … more
Sometimes The Air Stills
Fiction by Chris Di PlacitoA boy under the cancerous spell of his abusive father. A town under the deprived grip of misogyny and violence. Both stunted and silenced with fear.… more
Maria, Maria
Fiction by Gerard SarnatSeventies young physician fresh out of fancy-schmancy Harvard/Stanford/Harvard/Stanford training blew off chief residency and academic career to become the first internist naïve enough to take a position at some migrant worker clinic in Alviso east of San Jose. Our ramshackle long-neglected prefab building stood between a trailer park, taqueria, chicken farm and Route 237 on a godforsaken patch of… more
Can’t Go Back Inside
Fiction by Michael FerroWhen the smoke clears a fire is still burning. The man can feel the flames singeing the interior of his breastbone. The grass he stands on is wet and his socks soak his feet. They had pulled him back onto the boulevard and there he stands as he refuses to sit with the E.M.T. in… more
“Out, Brief Candle!”
Fiction by M.C. ZendejasWe were tucked away in a shabby strip center eating chicken fried steak when I got the news. Neon from the “DINER” sign glowed turquoise and bright pink under a small troupe of stars. The waitress had just given us our coffee. She was thin and pale, and her Russian accent contrasted with the rest… more
