Fiction
Checkpoint 104
In the dusty, windy hills above Bethlehem, she drove alone along the lonely by-pass road leading north from Wadi al-Arayis toward East Jerusalem. It was..
Section
Fiction
Showing 337-360 of 549 pieces
Fiction
They’ll say it was an Honest Mistake
“Yo, J, Got a light?” I pulled the convenient store lighter from my pocket with finger cutoff gloves. My nails were blackened from the shop,..
Fiction
In Gresham
Temperature hit one hundred, making our third floor apartment close to like Hell. I spent the day with Ben in the playground, leaving him under..
Fiction
The Almost Mother
The Almost Mother sits with me on a park bench, smiling to herself, humming a lullaby, while she looks for children to trip. A strange..
Fiction
Summers of Solitude
I grew up afraid of asking questions, afraid of being curious. It still affects the way I live. Any time I crossed that line as..
Fiction
Rumsey’s Watch
Walter looked at his watch, the warm sun reflecting across its silver blue dial into his eyes. The second hand appeared to be moving in..
Fiction
A Light Eulogy
Now for the eulogies. My brother goes first. He sobs. He and my father were close. They were both good at science. I can’t say..
Fiction
William
At 11:45PM on a February Friday, William dusts the snow from the shoulders of his full-length, dark wool business coat and enters the office of..
Fiction
Until They Fall
The dentist says, “Oh, oh…” her hands in my mouth while her assistant holds the suction gun limp-wristed, like a pencil she might use for..
Fiction
Heavy Wings
John didn’t come home that night. Reports said that a young Black man, suspected of robbery, was attacked by police officers on the corner of..
Fiction
Deception
Mic, feeling every one of his fifty-four years, sat on a stool, hunched over the hundred-year-old mahogany bar scared with burn marks from the years..
Fiction
Rain, Rain, Gone Away
It’s never a dark and stormy night. Never a dark and stormy day, either. Ain’t been since ‘fore I was born. The sky’s straight-up robin’s..
Fiction
De-parted
Train travel was slowly dying out like the art of writing letters. I didn’t care for such statements made by various people I knew. I..
Fiction
Excuse Me, Sir, May We Invade Your Home?
For Roald DahlIn heaven, or wherever he may have gone Laszlo Oxbreast bound old and rare books. His work required the utmost caution and particularity,..
Fiction
Postpartum
After an excruciating week of meetings in New York City, my husband was to arrive back home via bus. Noon sharp, he’d told me. He..
Fiction
Violation
She’d been worried about her daughter all day. The little girl’s temperature had risen to 38° and she’d called the doctor. Now the child was..
Fiction
You in the Dark
After school, you play with Mindy. She lives two houses away and has a big brother. He’s tall and lanky and if you knew the..
Fiction
Wait
Randal didn’t know that it wasn’t normal to wait until your father got home from the bar before you could have dinner. It wouldn’t..
Fiction
Big Dusty
To Russell, always called ‘Dusty’ since the day he was born, his father was a big man; not just big but BIG. He had big..
Fiction
The Combination Padlock
A man couldn’t remember the combination to a padlock. He didn’t want to break it, so he tried 0000, then 0001. He was prepared to..
Fiction
Silver Lining
Everyone knows people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, you catch more flies with honey, that love makes the world go round. This..
Fiction
The Water
They sat across from one another at the cheap station café. Trayfuls of tea, carelessly poured into narrow-waisted teacups, hovered around them. They were each..
Fiction
A Writer in the Sun
A verb is a nation. That’s what I’d tell you over coffee. I’d also tell you that writing has its own economy. Supply and demand…
Fiction
Friends of Ferry Point Park
Condolences, the card read and—she flipped it over—nothing else. Tara Contreras opened the door to her apartment and, without meaning to, thought: Better late than..