Fiction
Gender Reveal
Jordan chewed on her pinky nail until it started to bleed. “Shit!” She reached over Avery’s lap, opened the glove box, and pulled out a..
Section
Fiction
Showing 289-312 of 549 pieces
Fiction
My Mother’s Ring
When I first see it, I shudder. The knuckles are wrinkled and gnarly. The skin is gray. The middle finger tilts too far to the..
Fiction
No Such Number
I remember the last time I saw my father. He left for war and died a short time later, a Marine helicopter pilot, flying in..
Fiction
The Year of the Tomato
When I was growing up, the Chicago suburbs of Chicago ranked within a hierarchy of goodness and desirability. You had the ones on the bottom..
Fiction
Salami
The summer after 6th grade, my lizard died. My parents had never owned reptiles before and the vet we took our dog to wouldn’t cremate..
Fiction
Sundown
“Hey! Where’d that woman put my fan?” Mimi yelled. “That woman—she took it. I know she did. She’s always taking my stuff.” Ruth held her..
Fiction
Scavenging
A dozen donuts popped and sizzled in the deep fryer. As they floated into one another, Cosmo took out a pink box from under the..
Fiction
The Lesser King
It’s just an unknown web journal that probably no one reads, but something I wrote has been published. I’m thrilled. You would be, too. I..
Fiction
Trespassing
Their mother knocked on the door and leaned inside quick enough to catch Susan swaying to “The Wallflower” playing on her transistor radio. Elyse, lying..
Fiction
An Evening with my Father
I noticed the paint coming off the white iron table in the lawn. I had made two steaming cups of coffee, baked some shortbread for..
Fiction
Catacomb
The soft, wet grass beneath our rain boots made squelching sounds as we straggled behind the tour group led by a small, dark-haired, Italian woman…
Fiction
Grocery List
A lock of strawberry blonde hair peeking out from under a fuzzy winter hat freezes me in the grocery store parking lot. The hat is..
Fiction
In Those Days
In those days, there were no wheelie bins, there was no recycling: you put the trash out in round metal cans of the sort you..
Fiction
The Architect
“I need three Model B’s by this afternoon,” said George Oxburn, “And Harrison, nothing fancy.” Oxburn pointed to a sign posted above Ronald Harrison’s cubicle:..
Fiction
The Tall Man
Inspired by an Oneida Tribal Tale and a Selection from the Longer Story, “Cloven” On a stormy summer night just like this one, just around..
Fiction
Cats
‘I have been thinking about getting a cat for some time,’ my husband said between sips of tea. I looked up in surprise. I had..
Fiction
Door to door in the Banlieue
Sidestep the puddle that stretches from one side of the sandy road to the other, up to the lip of the cement doorstep. Knock on..
Fiction
The Incandescence of Boredom
Nandu turns five today. I’m given a list of things to get for the birthday party. Crayons, extra paper cups, Scotch tape, board pins, apples,..
Fiction
How To Converse With The Dead
When he was five years old, my grandfather discovered how to converse with the dead. It was a time for believing in Argentina. The Man..
Fiction
Still the ‘A’ Train
Not too many memories here, in these chic walls caught in the daily grind. But between the walls there are those truths—whistling through the subway..
Fiction
The Mosque
“You shouldn’t wear red. It’s not slimming. You need dark colors to minimize your weight. Are you listening to me?” Margie walked away from Vivian’s..
Fiction
Pretty
Kyle used to be pretty. He used to stop them in their tracks. He pretended he didn’t notice how mouths hung open and brains whirred..
Fiction
57 Ways to Talk About Your Time
You did not want it. When it came you’d have to enter that veiled, silent place where the women lived, and the things you loved—the..
Fiction
The Mistaken Time Traveller (circa 2010)
I set the time coordinates for May, the year 2020, ten years from now,I made the jump but, much to my dismay, to a parallel..