by Matthew Johnson Breath in. Breath out. The blue mask covering Cassie’s mouth and nose rose and swelled like foam, trapping in her...

by Megan Jauregui Eccles When I sold my hair to save my sister, I thought she’d understand. A mermaid’s magic is in her hair. It was all...

by Ioannis Argiris “Damn. Jimmy’s got to keep this shit on the low,” Jules says. The U-Haul truck’s suspension seems lower than what he...

By Peter Steinfeld We’d gotten everything: cake, flowers, presents, balloons… The cards somehow had slipped my mind. I searched before...

by Wendy Maxon Sara used to love the pastel seascape she’d painted on her curbside mailbox, but today its red plastic flag beckoned like...

By Brian Asman So the other weird thing about Bruno Harbeck’s bar was he had this pigeon. It sat on a stool next to a vintage...

by Gary Grace I went to visit Mam every Wednesday evening in the home. Ultimately it was my decision. Her and Dad hadn’t spoken in years....

by Megan Jauregui Eccles “Grow yourself a boyfriend,” the box said. How easy it would be. Plant the seed six inches below the soil,...

TW: suicide, death By Leanne Phillips This afternoon, the sky reminds me of a sky I knew one hundred years ago. I reveled in cold winter...

By Art Hanlon Michael left Seattle the year people were getting in touch with their anger. All morning he began to notice the angry...

By Tomas Baiza “Sssso, explain to us, young man, why you believe we should proceed with thisss transaction?” The strange voice had...

Muhammad Ali's Ballpoint Pen by Ben Loory Muhammad Ali had a favorite pen. He found it in a drugstore one day. The pen wasn't anything...

From the Other Side by Jordan Nishkian Your breath casts a growing fog over the glass while the other side, slicked with rain, gets...

Any Given Night by Kathryn E. McGee The clinking of champagne glasses—it’s for me this time. I squeeze Bret’s hand while my best friend,...

The ghost leaning over Carly’s mother could easily be her father, checking back in on the material world. Substantial, it curls over and...

Sometimes They Bite by Lawrence Block Mowbray had been fishing the lake for the better than two hours before he encountered the heavy-set...

Harmony Saylor by Art Hanlon I first heard of Harmony Saylor one night while drinking with friends in The Skull of the Oreodont, a bar...

by J.R. Angelella My father complained of having flame-shaped hands. He hated that he didn't have hands like his father, my grandfather,...

by Liz Michaud The screen door of our cabin swung shut with a shriek of rusty hinges. I flinched at the sound but kept my eyes fixed on...

by Kendall Brunson There’s the drink you don’t need but take anyway. That’s every drink. But the world is ending. Your uncle, one of the...