Fiction
August Contributors
Aditya Bhatia,Cooper Clarence, and Kenton Sage Schmidt
the field where we used to play
by Pam Avoledo
“Over here, Sarah calls, and we are running on the green grass in the small field.”
conversation with disapproving mimi every time she sneaks out to sniff
by Eirene Gentle
“I bear the fur of Finnian on my skinned knee. Would you like to know how I skinned it or just keeping looking at me in that crawly way?”
chill
by Cheryl Snell
“When he commas his body around hers, she wonders how much of his hug is medicinal and how much apology. Wonders why the bed won’t stop splintering.”
clam guts
by Susan Flint
“I LIVED IN A CITY WHERE THE MONEY FESTERS LIKE MOLD. I HUNG AROUND THAT CITY’S NECK. I ATE THE SCRAPS IT FED ME…I ENDURED THE SIGHT OF HOMELESS PEOPLE ON THE SUBWAY AND I THOUGHT IT MADE ME SPECIAL. I SWALLOWED CIGARETTES WHOLE.”
bodies
by Emily Buli
“It starts with a video of two women kissing, which intrigues me in a way I don’t fully understand. Megan watches on the bean bag beside me. Her eyes are like glass—red and distant as she takes swigs of hard lemonade with one hand and pets her dog with the other.”
pulse
by Tom Misuraca
“Everybody’s digital footprint was deleted, like it or not.”
the countess of shadow pointe
by Beth Sherman
“We heard she was a Russian countess married to an oligarch, with a fortune in rubies seized by the KGB.”
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.”
the work of a queen
by Emmi Khor
“The votes were in; she would soon be Queen and her words finally matter.“
solo at midnight
by Robert L. Penick
“While you rock the glass in your hand, the scars smooth themselves out and nearly disappear. This is good therapy, you think.”
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.”
index
by Grover Koger
“elixir of life, formulation by Query, 27
dangerous side effects of, 28
life-prolonging effects of, 29-32, 139, 157
enhancement of sexual prowess by, 45, 97, 117-48, 133-34, 157…”
roger lamb
by James Zoller
“I was born into a family of great failures.”
grape covers
by Eray Erkek
“He held the ladder steady. The damp floor with hose water covered his surroundings, green and brown like bruised skin.”
status quo
by Tejaswinee Roychowdhury
“One rainy evening, a frog drunk on fresh mosquito juice spiked with manure, pointed at the red house and wailed he was forced labour, fated to live out his slippery life within its bounds, deprived of quality mates.”
the haunt of age: a 5-step program for ghosting your ghost
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.”
just an idea
by Michael Czyzniejewski
“So, my idea, for down in the station, in the background, is we have the shoeshine booth, yeah, but instead of shoeshines, guys polishing shoes, we have guys polishing teeth.”
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.”
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.”