Fiction
November Contributors
Eric Angal, Alfredo Salvatore Arcilesi, Ben Arzate, Elodie Ashcroft, Iku Bittern, Maria Pianelli Blair, Margaret Cahill, Elijah Cansler, Myna Chang, Christie Chapman, Megan Chunn, Kyle Cox, Michael Czyzniejewski, Reagan Davenport, Erin Dawkins, Daniel Deisinger, Brooks Egerton, Mary Grimm, GRSTALT Comms, Alexander Holcomb, Yuna Kang, Nolan Knight, Zoe Knowlton, Vivian Littlefield, Clare Martin, Shrutidhora P Mohor, Davor Mondom, Seth Parker, Maisy Phelps, Hil Schmidt, Sumitra Singam, P. X. Vayalumkal, and Walter Weinschenk
November Highlights
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rag doll symposium
Fiction by Alfredo Salvatore Arcilesi
“In the invigorating darkness between tired streetlamps, Andie's mouth ached, both from the numbing cold and the lengthy lack of practice those deprived muscles had in performing a smile.”
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the job interview
Micro-fiction by Ben Arzate
“The interviewee goes to the nearby window. He jumps out. He falls twenty floors and dies on impact with the sidewalk…The company accepts him for the position two days later….”
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tough guys
Flash Fiction by Myna Chang
“She shoves my tie aside, taps a button mid-chest with the blade, tap tap tap. Who is this bitch? She’s grinning again, all teeth, and she smells like copper, like old pennies…”
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asphyxia
Fiction by Yuna Kang
“I blink, and Rella leaves my bathroom mirrors. I blink again; she finds a new home in my bedroom corner.”
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our darkness
Flash Fiction by Reagan Davenport
“For a moment, I saw nothing, heard nothing, but I felt her moving again inside me. For a moment, we were both alive.”
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a blue baby in a red house
Fiction by Shrutidhora P Mohor
“…inside that demolished heap, is a pair of tiny, helpless hands, fingers curled up, nails light blue, the skin as thin as muslin, a premature blue baby whose survival was questionable right from the moment of its coming.”
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the fable of the storyteller and his witch
Flash Fiction by Sumitra Singam
“It was never clear who hurled the first stone. The flinty piece of rock hit her on the head, leaving a dark bloom of blood.”
the lure
by Margaret Cahill
“As the door swung open, the bell above the door tinkled as usual. Something pulled me inside, propelling me forward involuntarily.”
i forgot i wasn’t there
by GRSTALT Comms
“The building went up fast. It came over the top of the fence. Everyone tried to pretend it wasn’t there. It was a big black box with no windows, guarded by men with guns wearing red vests.”
rag doll symposium
by Alfredo Salvatore Arcilesi
“In the invigorating darkness between tired streetlamps, Andie's mouth ached, both from the numbing cold and the lengthy lack of practice those deprived muscles had in performing a smile.”
the screams of jellyfish
by Michael Czyzniejewski
“One by one, they fell into the trap, each jellyfish pierced on a different spike, their jelly seeping out, oozing down the wood. Worse, the jellyfish were screaming, a dreadful wailing from the illuminated pit.”
an indifferent nape
by A. D. Canareira (translated by Clare Gaunt)
“And as he fell, just before his head smashed against the curb, he couldn’t avoid thinking what a blue day it was.”
smile
by Matthew Washington
“Today was the day I was going to kill myself and by God was I going to get it right the first time.”
honey, i’m home
by Valerie Levy
“Shaking, she reaches in her pocket, pulls out the book of matches, lights one, and flicks it toward the yellowing newspapers before turning gracefully on her heal and gliding out the now-closed front door for good.”
a ritual unknown
by Sophia Craig
“Shoeless and emptyhanded, the woman ran with nothing but the feeling that she couldn’t kill what never lived to begin with.”
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.”
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.”
george gale’s name
by Thomas M. McDade
“You’re a good man, George Gale. You saved both her and me some trouble.”
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.“
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!”
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.”
blood bound
by Jayson Carcione
“Someone screams. Lights explode in windows…The night is broken.
still deadly in death
by Kim Farleigh
“‘These winds,’ he warned, ‘are prophecies of your impending deaths. Don’t you little bunnies worry about that.’"
just breathe
by Zoë Davis
“The ancient ceiling fan, whining on an exposed fist of wiring, didn’t so much as move the air but stir it.”
come back panda bear
by Margaret Cahill
“When I turned to continue my walk, there he was: a man in a panda bear suit at the end of the boardwalk. At least I assumed it was a man, given that the figure was at least six feet tall.”