Fiction
I Know You Rider
Ryan and Walker stood in the doorway of the railcar as the train chugged through a crossing in Homerville, Georgia. The town, like many along..
Section
Fiction
Showing 361-384 of 549 pieces
Fiction
Chili Man
Once I came across a homeless person in Seattle. He asked for money. I gave him a dollar. He said, “Don’t you have five bucks?”..
Fiction
Food Baby
I knew, from the moment I woke up in Akihabara, in that spare white hotel room overlooking the five-story mall full of flashing red robots,..
Fiction
An Approximate Accumulation
Things were desperate. The editing work had all but dried up. No matter how many writing-related jobs I applied for on the freelancing websites I’d..
Fiction
Bridal Palanquin
Bhaggan had told me many times why Saffiya had been traveling on the train the day they found me. Bibi Saffiya’s husband had died, and..
Fiction
Double Date
He wasn’t as good looking as the man she’d always hoped to marry, but she recalled her therapist’s unsubtle hints that she shouldn’t wait aimlessly..
Fiction
The Sow
The old sow glared at Elrod with a sort of benign insolence. It was perhaps the ugliest thing the boy had ever seen. Its skin..
Fiction
Fade to Gray
I always sat in the chair by the window. That had become “my” spot during committee meetings. From my chair, I could look out the..
Fiction
Different Lives
Chris My alarm shrieks. It’s 6:57. Out of bed and into yesterday’s clothes. Dizzy from alcohol and insufficient sleep, I step into the morning under-dressed. ..
Fiction
Tarla’s Homecoming
Nakul sat straight in a vest with two holes in it and old pajamas. He didn’t make eye contact with his wife Tarla who was..
Fiction
Dharavi Dreams
Hi. My name is Abdul. Abdul Sheikh. I work at a cyber café not very far from where I live. But don’t bother. Not very..
Fiction
One Fainting Robin
The first time I saw her, my heart stopped. I mean, it really did stop, I died. Me? Who could believe that? I was sixteen..
Fiction
Votive Candle
“Caminante, no hay camino. Se hace camino al andar.” – Antonio Machado One dollar Australian only buys Barb one votive candle, or so goes the..
Fiction
So Far
Shankatahara Chathurthi: auspicious day dedicated to Ganesha … is observed … on the fourth day of … the waning lunar phase … – Internet Sarasu..
Fiction
Fight Night
Cleveland woke to roosters crowing at daybreak downstairs in one of the hotel garden courtyards. He and Anong had left the balcony door open by..
Fiction
Almajiri
AThe woman standing outside in the drizzling rain without an umbrella is Suspect X and has been under surveillance a while now. A black leather..
Fiction
Three Nights to Marriage
Tell her, just tell her, I told myself. She towered over me on Broadway as we crossed in front of traffic, her long legs stretching..
Fiction
The Painting
She could not reconcile the large oil painting hanging in the shadowed hallway of the assisted living suite with the frail woman lying on the..
Fiction
Manasil
Your mother, unbeknownst to you, tries to reach you. With a barren heat mere inches from her scented palms, she breathes deep unthinkingly at home…
Fiction
The Saga of an Unusual Friendship
We sit at the open courtyard, around a small, round table in bamboo chairs gazing out at the passing heads. The garden would gift us..
Fiction
A Long Time Burning
I thought about torching the place; finally, just burning the house, the barn, and the field to the ground. I longed to hear the wooden..
Fiction
Narcos
NPerhaps the blue ones would take her swimming in the cobalt waters, diving into the deep, deep ocean of oblivion, breathing water and narcotics instead..
Fiction
Maruti 800
Pishi’s car had still not pulled out of the driveway. Inside the house, Baba’s door closed on us. Under the yellow porch bulb that was..
Fiction
Looking Glass
They say drowning hurts. Really, really hurts. They say it’s excruciating and scarier than you can imagine. I suppose that makes sense, given that water..