Sunshine
byROSCOE LIVES ALONE WITH THIRTY-FIVE DOGS. He finds them easy to take care of, even though he’s seventy and slowing down. The dogs require little but that he calls out…
Stories
The Phareng
byI THINK OF THE PHARENG EVERY DAY. I think of his white skin and his cheeks that would turn something between pink and red whenever Mei-Duh lit the third fire. I…
June by Tuesday
by“NO ONE DRINKS CHAMPAGNE FROM WOMEN’S SHOES ANYMORE,” Dean said as he watched the foam dissipate from the head of his beer. Marcus lifted a bowl of peanuts and wiped…
My Mom Used to Walk to the Dairy Queen
byMY MOM USE TO WALK TO THE DAIRY QUEEN. She’d do that two or three times a week. It was about a mile away. A little more. She would always…
Field Notes From the Mud
byTHEY WOKE ME IN THE NIGHT BY GRINDING THEIR TEETH NEXT TO MY EARS. Their thin torsos stretched onto the walls and ceiling in black silhouettes as if they were…
After the Fire
byAFTER THE FIRE, BERTHA AND I MOVED INTO THE GROUNDKEEPER’S COTTAGE AT THE GARDEN’S EDGE. Thornfield Hall itself is little more than a blackened ruin, particularly the upper floors. However,…
1,000 Words on Kayfabe
byOMAR EXPLAINS TO ME THAT MEXICAN WRESTLERS NEVER REMOVE THEIR MASKS IN PUBLIC. “Who they are in the ring is the same person they are outside,” he says. “So The…
My Fetish for Jazz Musicians
byI COLLECT MY SCARLET LETTERS WITH EACH JAZZ MUSICIAN I’VE FUCKED. Nobody else counts. I understand it’s limiting to typecast a subgenre of people. Even morally wrong. But other types…
Rollercoasters, Big and Small
byYOU ARE ELEVEN. You are wearing your prep school’s red uniform polo shirt and a khaki skirt. Your mom took you to the Red Door Salon inside Sak’s Fifth Avenue…
Dinner Party Hypnagogia
byTHIS WAS BACK WHEN CERTAIN KINDS OF POSTURING WERE STILL REGARDED AS VALID FERTILE GROUND, but she dreams way more frequently than I do, and there’s only so many masks…