Fiction
September Contributors
Mileva Anastasiadou, Tom Andes, Elan Barnehama, Sophia Craig, Karen Crawford, Eray Erkek, Eirene Gentle, GRSTALT Comms, Rebecca Karas, Emmi Khor, Thomas M. McDade, Peter Naughton, Dimitry Partsi, Alexei Raymond, Tejaswinee Roychowdhury, Beth Sherman, Cheryl Snell, and James Zoller
September Highlights
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alley money
Fiction by Alexei Raymond
“He’d never touched money of that kind. He’d seen it being handled by his mother, or by Ivan on their adventures, but he’d only ever touched various coins.“
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disintegration
Fiction by Peter Naughton
“She glanced over at her right hand and sure enough the finger was missing, though there had been no blood or pain to mark its departure.”
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fountain
Micro-fiction by Elan Barnehama
“When we met, she was sitting barefoot on the rim of the fountain, hungry for everything. “
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t is for tino
Micro-fiction by Eirene Gentle
“When Tino called in the sharks they were ready. They’d practiced so many times. The circle, the dip. Synchronized finning to the music of Bolero.”
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the haunt of age: a 5-step program for ghosting your ghost
Micro-fiction by Karen Crawford
“…anticipate your ghost’s surprise when she floats into the bedroom where your new nipped/tucked body lies. If she goes all poltergeist, rattle, and chain, flash her a ‘friendly’ smile. Your teeth blinding, lips plumped to perfection.”
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stick him
Fiction by Tom Andes
“Channeling all his hatred and self-loathing, all his rage at the number of times the Heaney boys and their minions had whaled on him, Patrick had. He’d stabbed the poor dude because Declan Heaney had told him to.”
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a significant deficit in coherence
Fiction by Dimitry Partsi
“Somewhere, deep in his alternatively gifted mind, Mr. Badgerson was certain of only one thing: he had not yet been misunderstood loudly enough.”
t is for tino
by Eirene Gentle
“When Tino called in the sharks they were ready. They’d practiced so many times. The circle, the dip. Synchronized finning to the music of Bolero.”
jiggle
by Cheryl Snell
“The Peeping Tom says, it’s lucky the mother can’t see all those folds and puckery! This is not the body she assigned the daughter.”
woman in the coral
by Rebecca Karas
“Someday I would join her, intertwined on the ocean floor.”
fountain
by Elan Barnehama
“When we met, she was sitting barefoot on the rim of the fountain, hungry for everything.“
a significant deficit in coherence
by Dimitry Partsi
“Somewhere, deep in his alternatively gifted mind, Mr. Badgerson was certain of only one thing: he had not yet been misunderstood loudly enough.”
how to stop your mother from wandering
by Beth Sherman
“104) In the picture, she has a crooked smile. Her eyes shift to the left, away from you, toward something you can’t see.”
trigger happy
by Susan Flint
“On the way home from the restaurant Joselyn stops at the Asian market. She walks in between rows of rotating Peking ducks and she thinks about killing herself.”
stick him
by Tom Andes
“Channeling all his hatred and self-loathing, all his rage at the number of times the Heaney boys and their minions had whaled on him, Patrick had. He’d stabbed the poor dude because Declan Heaney had told him to.”
disintegration
by Peter Naughton
“She glanced over at her right hand and sure enough the finger was missing, though there had been no blood or pain to mark its departure.”
protection from the gods
by Emmi Khor
“The Menshen Gods guarding the house were not pleased with the arrival of three new deities.”
george gale’s name
by Thomas M. McDade
“You’re a good man, George Gale. You saved both her and me some trouble.”
three stories
by Mileva Anastasiadou
“…he’s water and I’m air, and the fire will devour us at the end, but in a plot twist we will someday devour the world, only we play innocent now…”
the gift of love
by GRSTALT Comms
“The bag lies next to me in my bed. I’ve never slept so well. I see its smile in my dreams.”
alley money
by Alexei Raymond
“He’d never touched money of that kind. He’d seen it being handled by his mother, or by Ivan on their adventures, but he’d only ever touched various coins.“
fire in the sky
Micro-fiction by James Rayvin
“This time I saw that the craft was levitating. As I approached, a bright beam split the air and trained on my head. The next world has to be better. I carve the moniker into my arm. Raise my hands to the beam. And forget about you.”
lik-m-aid
by Madison Ellingsworth
“If miracles were real, God would have cured our daddy, and that dog would have lifted the telephone pole off itself. But it was us who saved that dog, and it was God who let our daddy die.”
chinese whispers
by Rick Kennett
“The noises changed to murmurs of appreciation. Charlie and Douglas and one or two others thumped fists upon the table, chanting, “Ghost story! Ghost story!”
chicka-chicka slim shady
by Benjamin Drevlow
“Like Eminem’s I Don’t Give a Fuck but in which I give a fuck about everything, all things, and can’t do anything about them, but scream I don’t give a fuck in Em’s nasally whine…”
if she knew how to be honest with her therapist
by Amber Budd
“If she knew how to be honest with her therapist, she wouldn’t drop her bundle of shadows at the edge of the sidewalk, like how a mother might leave an infant at a convent.”
max’s video
by Wyatt Robinette
“The video was from a GoPro Max wore during the war. Like most GoPro scenes it was chaotic, unclear. Also, you never saw Max’s face, you just heard him.”