Fiction
Cutting the Edge
I was dressed in a ghastly shade of pink, bright and sugary, like a Popsicle. My skin reeked of sun block and bug repellant. The..
Section
Fiction
Showing 385-408 of 549 pieces
Fiction
Genny and the Leprechaun
Genevieve wanted a leprechaun. She’d never held a leprechaun. She’d never even seen one, not a real live one, but when Papa spoke and when..
Fiction
FEAR
He was running wildly, panting for breath as his heart beat furiously like a terrified bird trying to break out of its cage. They were..
Fiction
What Is Love
Twenty years ago, they were madly in love. She loved him so much that she left her long-term boyfriend for him and moved to a..
Fiction
Diesel for My Soul
Rels meant relatives. Cooz stood for cousin. Fat was for father. This new lingo exasperated me. I bit my nails every time I heard it..
Fiction
My Tiered Tiffin Box
In the late 1980s, Bombay (now Mumbai) had morphed into a rebellious teenager, the child of loving philanthropic parents but an incomplete adult, a poster-child..
Fiction
The Roofer
I haven’t been homeless all my life. There was a time when I had a cozy bed to sleep in and a fine roof over..
Fiction
Voices from the dark
“Lassiwala..oy… lassiwala!” The young girl’s voice drifted down the dark, rain-washed corridor of the chawl. She stood for a moment at the door of their..
Fiction
The Gift
The lane in front of the school was a nightmare with its worn-out tarmac, non-existent pavement and the huge buses, mud flecked cars, rickety vans,..
Fiction
THE FLY HAS NO PITY
Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India That week the rains came. On the morning of July 21 there was a heavy shower and a good deal..
Fiction
More Than You Know
When I was nine years old, I accidentally knocked over my father’s vase. It was the last decoration his late wife bought for the house..
Fiction
The Session
The therapist’s office looked out over the park. Gold curtains framed the windows, the ends grazed oat-colored shag carpet. The room was spartan; only a..
Fiction
The Ward
The proctology ward is quarantined. My clothes are taken from me, and after inspection, my records and personal belongings are passed to the inside through..
Fiction
The Greek
His narrow rib cage, emphasized by his bustier, reminded her of a twelve year old girl’s. He had wild, curly black hair and a dark..
Fiction
Long Division
Rosaline: Without fail, I used to catch the 6:51 pm train back home. It always had just enough people in it and I would be..
Fiction
Bronx Deli
After my grandfather, Itsik Gelber, died, my grandmother, Lena, moved from the apartment she’d lived in for forty years on Bronx Park South. Her new..
Fiction
Jack’s a Martian
People usually escape from their troubles into the future; they draw an imaginary line across the path of time, a line beyond which their current..
Fiction
Surviving in Michoacán
“Four men got out of the van,” Carmen told Detective Ruiz who looked like he spent more time across the street at the Gorditas Doña..
Fiction
The Ears Have It
At some point, I began noticing people’s ears. One man wore tiny, square, rimless reading glasses. His long brown hair was tied in a bun,..
Fiction
The Hawk
Jeff Mason hung up the store phone, pleased. He’d convinced a brokerage firm downtown to hold a Hawaiian Nights event; every employee at the brokerage..
Fiction
Someday
It’s 5 AM. Somewhere in the climax of your dream you had an anxiety attack. So you wake up – exhausted from sleep apnea, acidity..
Fiction
The Night Chores
This story won the first prize in the prose competition of Alcheringa festival’s Zephyr literary event.
Fiction
The Chair
This story won the third prize in the prose competition of Alcheringa festival’s Zephyr literary event.
Fiction
Oh, Cardinal Directions!
You’ll be the father of nations. Genesis 17:4 I. Ginny listened for the door and keyless lock of her husband’s car, but Leonard Cohen heard..