Carlos and I were in our usual lunchtime hiding spot underneath the bleachers by the football field. The only place we could get away from the “bro” haunted hallways of Washington Middle School. My lunch consisted of yogurt and strawberries, which the maid somehow thought I loved. I traded them to Carlos for his tortilla,… more
Category Archives: Fiction
The Miller Position
Fiction by Z.Z. BooneSometimes a guy will do the unthinkable in order to improve his employment opportunities.… more
Hindsight
Fiction by Brian Phillip WhalenTim’s new step dad owned a Cadillac. His name was Bob and he looked like Corbon Bernsen. Bob had a daughter named Bonnie and I loved her. Bonnie smelled like coconut and wore bikinis at the beach. When Bonnie walked along the ocean, strands of her long blonde hair pinched off in the clasp on… more
A Crash on the Highway
Fiction by Jamey T. GallagherSouls were supposed to rise. That was the whole idea of souls. They were supposed to take flight once a person “passed,” but instead Javi felt the pickup truck driver’s soul fall out of the helicopter. … more
Crusher
Fiction by John Oliver HodgesBalloons lined the curb beside the dumpster there, a festive splash of color to coronate the grand opening of the new supermarket down the block. I found it cute, so cute that I was like the guy who missed the UFO over the splendor of an aurora borealis. When sunsets do fun things in Jersey,… more
Love Will Beat Your Brains Out
Fiction by Kelly Kathleen FergusonDon’t expect valet service, she says. You better carjack my ass like a man.… more
Male Bonding
Fiction by John TalbirdSwitching lanes at eighty without a signal, you bite the Baby Ruth to the wrapper, snap fingers, press play and shout, “Yeah! I don’t care what people say—Nugent’s got balls!” Raising your voice to compete with “Cat Scratch Fever” you ask, “Did you hear what that cocksucker Davis said to me? God, he jerks me.”… more
Trophies
Fiction by Levis KeltnerThe beast grinned in a display case beside the six-shooter that’d killed him, not scaring nobody but a boy who couldn’t go to the pisser without his momma in hand. “He ain’t nothing,” Curly said and gave the case a smooch. The kid’s face crinkled.… more
Peter
Fiction by Rob RoenschI don’t believe what they said happened in that Burger King, in that motel room. Whatever was, there must have been a moment when a word, a breath’s work, would have mattered.… more
The Time Lassie Let One of the Boys Die
Fiction by Brett M. BourdonOne afternoon, the summer before I started junior high, I left my younger brother to die frozen and alone in the English countryside. I’m speaking metaphorically, of course. The nature of this metaphor will become clear to you very soon. Not metaphorically, my younger brother and I rode our bikes to the local Aldi grocery… more
