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Fractured by Suzanne Cottrell
The clouds had been building all afternoon. The smell of rain wafted through the muggy, July night. Each gust of wind rattled the windows. Moonlight no longer filtered through the…
Fiction
Bedtime Snack by Mike Murphy
The sky turned dark as they arrived. The three men, their moving company truck parked behind them, looked up at the old brick house on Hawthorn Road – their last…
Fiction
The Beckoning Woods by R.A. Goli
The road stretched out in front of Heath like an unending black serpent. He hated this byway. It gave him the creeps. Gnarled and twisted trees lined the road, their…
Fiction
The Candle by Martin Keaveney
Scraps of burnt paper rise around us into the darkness. The bright air whistles, shriller, then softer. I drag the case behind Mother, a silhouette carrying two bags. Our bare…
Fiction
The Phantom at the Bottom of the Well by Bill DeArmond
“Hello—o?” Bailey leaned over the rim of the well, waiting for the echo to fade away. Sometimes it took the spirit two or three calls before it awakened. “Hello—o?” A…
Poetry
The Exile of Mourning by David Anthony Sam
Fire harvests my dreams as God is spoken when ashes stir the wind. Women wash themselves in such residue, knead bread from the chalk of the bone dead while singing…
Poetry
The Brand by Steven Perry
The smell of alcohol and burnt flesh filled the kitchen air I glanced at the long thick piece of iron that laid calm on the blistering red stove. I was…
Poetry
Fiddling the Fourth by Christina M. Rau
Calves on fire, feet blister on wood, they dance. They dance, sweating, fevered, another circle to the left holding hands, another set of high kicks, more do-see-do-ing. Muscles break down,…
Poetry
Passed Away by Sugar Tobey
Mr. Brady died everyone used the words passed away it was strange when someone in my family died they just died I assumed if you were nice that you passed…
Fiction
Mount Rose Wood by Vincent Salvati
Patrolman DiNizzio sat in his car next to the pay phone, as he did most nights, discussing his next rendezvous with his girlfriend (something Mrs. DiNizzio didn’t know anything about)…
Poetry
Elders by Changming Yuan
At twilight, the fishes are retreating To the distant depth, like an ocean They are sure of disappearance with all The effort being made. There is no more Jumping out…
Poetry
Different You by David Pring-Mill
There are many different yous. A multitude matching your philosophy. I am drawn in first by the look of you, and then the depth of you; that is how these…
Fiction
The Everything Place by John Riebow
The sun’s pale reflection on the stillness of the mist-laden water was cut, unfolded, folded, and re-laid by the canoe’s passing. The air was crisp and light, not unlike an…
Fiction
Lizard Boy by Emily Laubham
For hours, Edgar Polrattle, known to fellow classmates and crueler town-folk as the Lizard Boy, wandered down the streets of Yokemile, Florida, shrinking away from the voices in his head.…
Fiction
What the River Claims by Cyn Bermudez
The dead numbered in the hundreds. The current count loomed in red on a large interchangeable sign on the side of the highway: two hundred seventy-five. “Ay nako,” her mom…
Poetry
Prammed by Michael M. Marks
Prammed over the cracks, I was the pride of my neighborhood sidewalk, until the neighbor girl cut my golden curls, which never grew back, and I became a has-been before…
Poetry
Good Christmas Hunting by John Reinhart
shelters steamed with rich meat down pillows and comforters – predator-prey relationship reestablished in the spirit of holiday cheer I want to steal crackers from Safeway all the crackers –…
Poetry
Cemetery by Richard Luftig
The only mourners left; These summer storms Those winter moons. Winds that sand Away the names On tombstones To flatness as if No one ever lived Here to farm the…
Poetry
A Sparrow by Sujash Purna
The unflinching attitude to negativity is what keeps us alive Adored, adorned, adopted, adapted Smell of dried and burned grass and garlic Seeping through all our pedagogic minds. When a…
Poetry
The Storm Wind by Edward Ahern
gusts and surges like an unchained guard dog, strewing dust and pollen, flashing the naked underside of leaves, and tossing meadow grass like ruffled bear fur, spinning from side to…
Poetry
Summer Fog by Joe Roberts
Summer fog Blunting the sunrise Retarding the coming hear of the day Heavy wet air clinging to hair ends White wisps of mist curl up in the trees A veil…
Poetry
Grave Robber by Lianne Kamp
I crawl under the blanket of evening and press my ear into the soft ground – listen for the voices that were silenced here eyes cloaked and soul exposed –…
Poetry
What the Road Believes by F.J. Bergmann
That there are other places, by implication. That it will live as long as there are maps. That travelers move through twilight more gently. That travelers wipe away the rain.…
Fiction
Grow Fonder by Kristofer Velasquez
A burst of muffled laughter erupted from the back of Izzy Brice’s 8th period biology class. A small cluster of boys led by Lino Forde had been choking on stifled…
Fiction
Medical Discharge by Gustavo Bondoni
The movers, as usual, were throwing expensive furniture around with reckless abandon, while Martin attempted frantically to identify which idiotic painter had decided that the living room would look good…
Poetry
Deep and Wide by Lianne Kamp
This small town is as deep as the layers of life echoing beneath the streets and as wide as the breath of the wind that whispers their stories
Fiction
Hallowed Ground by D. Leroy
I knew it was a mistake the moment we stopped digging near Hawthorn Road. We all mingled in the yard, gawking at what used to be a clump of trees.…
Fiction
ErrBNB by Bart Bergfeld
Ringing the landlord would solve the lost key issue, but doing so was unthinkable. My stay violated the No Subletting rule, a crime that, if committed once more, would evict…
Fiction
Through the Veil by Thomas Elson
Katherine was born in an isolated section of an isolated state where creeks were called rivers and foothills called mountains, where the letter “r” held its rightful position in the…
Fiction
If Only by David LeGere
The sun, a fierce sliver of yellow and orange expanding on the horizon, rose like a pad of butter melting on my cakes, as my grandmother would’ve said. In this…
Fiction
Love Potion by Les Bohem
Cleo has been tending bar here at the Eddy for almost a year. Tending bar, that cheapens it, debases it—she’s a mixologist. Baristas, mixologists, neighborhood butchers…the ‘new local’…take pride in…
Fiction
The Gospel of Chloride by Jennifer Leeper
The town was as bare as a pauper’s cupboard. It was perfect. Rufus would fill it with its own history. The town of Chloride, New Mexico had been reduced to…
Fiction
The Bike Man by Helen Laser
I left the college radio station to find that my bike was gone. My jacket was pulled closed, my head swimming with preoccupations, and my chest was strung tight with…
Poetry
Ordinance by Anna Cates
NOTICE: WEED AND GRASS REMOVAL: All properties within the City of Wilmington must be maintained in accordance with Chapter 1729 of the City of Wilmington Codified Ordinances which prohibits grass…
Poetry
Ol’ Boy by Anna Cates
Styling gel won’t touch that ol’ boy He ain’t no metrosexual He feeds his beagles Walmart’s Ol’ Roy And ain’t that sweet He don’t keer For stereotypes of coon skin…
Fiction
Hallowed Eve by Rebekah Goemaat
Rachel, 1984 “Betsy and Melvin can’t keep her away from him,” Grandma says to Aunt Lettie, as they stand at the counter in Grandma’s kitchen, chopping up the last of…
Fiction
Martians by Christopher Acker
One thing is for sure—the town knows Martians. You can’t step anywhere without trampling over one. The first Martian welcomed us yesterday morning from a billboard next to our hotel.…
Fiction
The Queen of Trees by Carol Jones
I finished my giant bowl of Lucky Charms before the trucks pulled up. A dozen men in orange hardhats assembled on the front lawn. They had all come to take…
Fiction
Copilot by J. David Liss
The Cessna 172 reached its flight path at 5,000 feet. Looking down, Franklin felt the height grip at his balls like a woman with chilly hands, and he knew he’d…
Poetry
Shadow in Time by Deborah L. Davitt
The diner’s lurked at the corner since 1937; hasn’t been made-over since ‘54 Fluorescent signs behind the counter burned out back in ‘64; grilled cheese costs two bits, pie’s ten…
Fiction
Invisible Spirit by Patricia Rossi
If only she could recognize me, she would realize how truly near I am. Her wailing sobs silence my spiritual presence I am… the whistling wind the rustling leaves the…
Fiction
Leaving Us by Ken Leland
“There’s a new patient in Room Three,” Doris, the shift supervisor, says while pulling the file and laying it on the hospice counter. Marcie, a young Island nurse, leans her…