Fiction
August Contributors
Aditya Bhatia,Cooper Clarence, and Kenton Sage Schmidt
transitions
by Kalan Cordell
“My heart knocks against his; a vacant space not seeking any settlers.”
the zeppelins of desire
by Jon Wesick
“After taking the escalator to the basement, he set out lutefisk and loaded the coffee machine with K2-cups. Addicts filed in and arranged folding chairs in a circle. A man in a sombrero stood. ‘I’m C.D. and I’m a lawncare addict. I’ve been six-weeks clean.’”
automation is the future
by Lana Lowe
“Headline: Are you finding slivers of metal in your apples? Here’s who to call”
madness of two 1963, 2008, 1933, 1993
by Mary Thorson
“Sister, I dreamed about a dead rat, and I know no one wants to hear about dreams but listen because this is so important.”
you are a rock god
by Joelle Killian
“Whatever those chemical wizards add during synthesis to create this effect always leaves you with glitter-snot for days.”
the hour between dog and wolf
by Michael Holtzman
“Her hand rested at her side, fingers curled around a heavy key. In the hour between the dog and the wolf, the key slipped free and dropped slowly down the long well of a waking dream, striking the metal bowl beside her chair. The sharp clang broke the spell.”
the phone call
by Swetha Amit
“…it was the ringing phone that kept reverberating in Mira's ears. It made her heart flutter like a trapped bird, and it delved into the fabric of her darkest memory.”
the quintessence of evil
by William Jennings Chalk
“…narcissists are difficult and self-centred to the extreme, but they are not actively trying to hurt you. Malignant narcissists, on the other hand, take pleasure in causing others pain, they enjoy your suffering.’
freshman
by Kathryne McCann
“Water rolls down your body, tracing your ribs, finding your hip bone and falling below just as his fingers did not even an hour ago.”
the grandparent scam
by D. C. Martin
“The kid looked up at him and squinted at the light. Telford saw himself in the blinking reflection of the kid’s eyes. An angry old man with a sledgehammer raised above his head.”
is this your card?
by Caroline Huckeba
“Cards flicker through the air, a fast red-and-black rain. One lands near my shoe, face-up: the Queen of Hearts.”
nothing and everything
by Sharon Bippus
“We’re two guys past our prime looking for a thrill.”
about honey
by D.J. Huppatz
“Cruising back to Nassau after my arrest and subsequent release for obstructing a bulldozer in the last Irish rainforest, my thoughts turned to the fate of the high-vis goons who smashed the forest’s fairy ring.”
the bus stop
by Olivia Ardine
“I left work that day somehow more satisfied than usual, feeling like I had done something good for the world. This was not a feeling I had daily, not a feeling I experienced by following the schedule.”
fade to white
by Thomas Kopperwas
“Faster and faster he went, until the bike merged into the lucent moonlight; fading to white...”
the blue door
by McKenna Robison
“I hoped to go through a different hallway that might lead me to the blue door. My heart was pounding, and my limbs were loose and shaky from nerves, but my mind was clear with adrenaline.”
bus driver appreciation day
by Craig Demi
“The picture taking didn’t last long. How could it? We were bus drivers, not supermodels.”
quarters
by Camryn Brennan
“I see them everywhere. All around me. On my pillow. Under the seat of my car. On the kitchen counter. It's like I'm meant to see them. It feels like someone is leaving them for me.”
the creative process
by John Sara
“I keep a box of ideas stashed beneath my bed; misshapen balls of flesh I cut from my body and mail to my editor. (Um, thanks, but I didn’t actually ask you to do that).”
camera obscura
by Jocelyn Szczepaniak-Gillece
“…you know what it makes me think of, those engravings of camera obscura where the outside gets projected in but backwards and upside down, like Plato’s cave…”