Consecration
byWhen Allen was diagnosed with myocardial ischemia, Nora’s husband had already died from it nine months earlier, seven hundred miles away in Jacksonville, Florida. Allen never met him and only…
Stories
When a Door is Not a Door
byShe never blocked me. I search her name, and there she is, there’s her picture. A few clicks, and there’s her life. And in my dumb hope, I wonder if…
Ghostie on First
byThe kids are in the backyard trying to pull off a game meant for eighteen players with only two. From where Mason Wilshire stands at his kitchen window, he can…
Paralysis
byYou tiptoe down the hall, where one of the Sisters stands. Smile eternal, steam wrapping her in colorful tentacles, patterned silk a noose around her hair. Would you like to…
Arms Wide and Welcoming
byA December storm swirls, and twilight arrives early to northern Switzerland. I’m home alone, fueling our Kachelofen with split logs, when my son arrives from the train station. I close…
At the Omni
byMy good madam, I can sense the anger beneath your professional mien. You’re upset that I’ve trashed my suite, and you’re quite right to be. The damage, as you’ve seen,…
Pumpkin
byWith the roarin’ hum of the horseflies and the baking midnight heat, our little patch of Texas coulda been the center of the equator. Some patcha paradise, hidden in some…
Check Engine
byYour check engine light comes on because it loves you. This is my working hypothesis. This is not what the sensor will tell you, but what do they know? Those…
The Verbs
byCynthia Scoffs maintains a list of people she’s met who also have verbs for last names, including: Terrance Beat Jill Bent May Blanche—extra points for the modal auxiliary verb Oscar…
Albert
byAlbert came from a synthetic embryo built from their parent’s stem cells. “It’s so much easier this way,” their mother had explained. But Yu is convinced Albert turned out all…