Triptych by Joan Wilking Benjamin Bullard IV (still known as Benji to his family and friends) has boiled his life down to a series of lists. They were his last girlfriend’s idea. “Focus. Focus. Focus.” Karleen said. “Lists saved my life.” All of her suggestions about...
King and Queen by Melissa Gutierrez When she finally calls I have just had a new dishwasher installed, just shaken the Sears man’s thickened hand and shown him out the door. I am still watching him through the blinds as he gets inside his painted van when the phone...
Ghost Story by Kayla Rae Candrilli Margaret, with the longest blonde hair in Wyoming county, took over 30 stabs with a buck knife— her body swallowing the blade again and again. Her jealous man wrapped her in a burlap sack, stuffed her under the little bridge where I...
Suckered by Lowell Jaeger I’m trying my best to figure which move suckered me most. The Gorilla Hug. Double Reverse. Reverse Double Reverse. Or the Captain Jack, which tortured my elbow behind my back. Then he’d cut me down with the Lumberjack, drop me flat-faced on...
What’s Confusing by Willie Fitzgerald In the aisle with canned vegetables, pickles, tomatoes, and pasta sauce, they reached their mutual breaking point. I don’t understand, she said. I don’t understand why you would feel that way about what I said. I didn’t say...
Excerpt from King of Joy by Richard Chiem Someone hands Corvus a Polaroid-it’s a photo of herself she doesn’t recognize-and the boy who gives it to her is the chubbiest at the party. The photo feels like a gift from a nightmare, something she should not be holding,...
