Mornings Always Made Us Better
byCAM AND I WERE TWENTY-TWO AND DRINKING WHITE WINE IN THE ARIZONA SUMMER FOR AUNT BABE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY, and it was good, but it wasn’t enough and we both knew this….
Stories
Stained Shadows
byTHE CHAIR HAD EXISTED IN ITS HOME FOR ALMOST FORTY YEARS. It was as much a part of the house as the frail bones that made up the moldy structure…
On Becoming a Silhouette
by“YOU WEREN’T MY ROLE MODEL,” A YOUNG BLACK MAN TELLS YOU LATE ONE NIGHT, at a bar after a game. A game your team lost, you with the basketball in your…
Shelter
byMY SHIFT STARTS AT FOUR, SO I’M OUT THE DOOR AT 2:30. It’s not a long walk, but I want to stop to buy cigarettes, and I have to make…
Direct Connection
byart by Georgia Gump The first time I saw the telephone I was driving home from work. The same route every day, then all of a sudden, something different. I’m…
The Rules of Being a Ghost
byI GET TO WORK EARLY BECAUSE IT’S ONE OF THE RULES. There are rules to being a ghost in the Navy. I say rules, but there is really only one—refrain…
Exhume
byYOUR EPITAPH IS WRITTEN IN THE BAGS UNDER MY EYES. Each night I lay in bed. Body curled like a question mark around the space you used to fill. Moonlight…
An Octopus Mother Dies After Bearing Her Young
byNO MORE OUTINGS. Home, I bring in the walnut cheeseboard, eat the ever-loving pork chops Dylan made me hours ago, now cold and congealed. Migraine emerging. Where is he? Saturday…
The Return of the Queen
byCOMING INTO SHOCKOE BOTTOM FROM OUT OF TOWN, YOU HAD TO TAKE THE FRANKLIN STREET EXIT FROM I-95 SOUTH, and then make an immediate left turn at Dianastein. Dianastein was…
The Death of Sean Taylor
byCLICK CLACK. This is the first thing Jamil hears when he wipes the sleep from his eyes. He has no sheets or pajamas, so he wakes up with his skin…