Poetry
The Habit of Killing by Frank Coffman
Narrated by Frank Coffman His method hadn’t changed much through the years, Since that dark day his dream became a deed. He knew he had to kill to fill the need That had grown in him. He overcame his fears. His lust for blood had started a mere seed— Simple wonder how it felt to [...]
Poetry
Narrated by Rob E. Boley Mile after mile after gallon after gallon, my car’s wheels tug at the cracked pavement, headlights rolling their eyes at yet another red light. In many ways, my morning commute is the same as ever. Sipping black coffee in the travel mug. Licking hints of pancake syrup off my fingers. [...]
Poetry
Narrated by Lela E. Buis You are a bokor that has stolen my soul. I have no will now of my own. I am your slave, your slut, I wait for you to come home, Clothed in Victoria’s Secret Arranged carefully on the sofa In front of the TV. At the club downtown I dance [...]
Poetry
The Monster Speaks by Bob McAfee
Narrated by Bob McAfee I am your electric Adam, you are my creator god You sewed me in this motley jester’s suit Awakened child of chemicals and lightning rod Like yin and yang, like two peas in a troubled pod We are forever joined together, man and brute I am your electric Adam, you are [...]
Poetry
The Selkie and the Captain by Avra Margariti
You love the captain, so you skin him and wear his pelt on your back like a trophy. You love the captain, so you share a kiss with him, soft like the velvet moss at the bottom of the sea, rough like the whale’s grainy tongue. The captain loves you, so he steals your skin [...]
Poetry
Radiance and Obscurity (A Paradelle) by Dawn Vogel
Narrated by Dawn Vogel Your blue eyes dance with (warmth of) stars. Your blue eyes dance with warmth (of stars); You cast magic of love from beside me. You cast magic of love. From beside me, Love, your eyes, you of warmth, from dance cast of blue, Beside me, with magic stars. We’ll have been [...]
Fiction
Introduction to Issue 43 Fiction by Edwin Riddell
Readers might be forgiven for concluding there’s a somewhat domestic aspect to our proud new issue. But nothing is quite what it seems here. Not if you include carnivorous mothers, high-school students mutating into elephants, and the former mind of your brother transplanted to a brand-new body in your definition of domestic. It was Sigmund [...]
Fiction
The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good by Michael Manzer
His eyes opened a crack, slowly. The bed he was lying in was a makeshift conglomeration of comforters, pillows and yoga mats jumbled on the floor.
Fiction
Keeping busy was the best way to survive the lesson. Ellie sharpened all her pencils, rearranged her braid into a ponytail, and scratched the pink varnish off her nails.
Fiction
The Betrayal of the Quilquen by Harrison Kim
After hiking all day on the mountain I felt ravenous. I walked back home along the road thinking of steaks and bacon. Ahead of me I observed a little man.
Fiction
As Nick’s first step from the car broke through the thin skin of ice covering a puddle, and he felt the freezing water soak through the canvas of his shoe
Fiction
My Little Monster by Iseult Murphy
The fair filled the village green with light and noise from edge to edge. Most of the villagers were already gathered there, the bright lights and music attracting them like moths in the warm summer evening.
Fiction
My Brother is a Robot by Carl Perrin
Hugh was always the first one in the family to try any new techy stuff. He was the first to have a smart phone, a smart watch, a smart home, and a self-driving car.