Family Matters by Sarah Siham

You know what’s worse than a family dinner? I’ll tell you: a fucking wedding dinner. Every random relative that you’ve ever encountered once, three millenniums ago, and whose existences are perfectly inconsequential to you but apparently primordial to the familial circle, reunited in the same room. Annoyance grated me as I observed people, whose blood was the only thing we had in common, hypocritically saluting … Continue reading Family Matters by Sarah Siham

A Sudden Change of Plans by Mike Lee

I felt powerless…and chickened out at what was supposed to be my defining moment. Instead, I was a coward who backed away five minutes into grasping destiny with a finger on the trigger. Methodically, I stripped the rifle with disgust, placing the parts neatly into the gym bag. I slung it over my shoulder and crossed the abandoned warehouse floor, taking the stairs in lieu … Continue reading A Sudden Change of Plans by Mike Lee

The Princess of Morticians by Mike Lee

At 10:30, the receptionist at the front desk gave off the look of a mortician, heightened by her jet-black hair with the white streak in the bangs that evoked a mid-90s memory of one of the band members in Luscious Jackson. As well as what I realized decades ago: punk is not a uniform. Instead, it was a way of thinking—an attitude. The latter came … Continue reading The Princess of Morticians by Mike Lee

Drinks, Maybe Dinner by Paul Lewellan

Last week Stephanie showed me the picture: young woman in a yellow sundress, dazzling smile full of teeth and expectation, small child in her arms. “That’s Mother with me.” “Decades ago…” “She hasn’t aged, Frank,” my girlfriend said dismissively. So when my administrative assistant told me Margaret Folsom Clark was in the showroom, I hurried out to meet her. Of course, I recognized her instantly. … Continue reading Drinks, Maybe Dinner by Paul Lewellan

Diary of a Dissatisfied Character by Linda Ferguson

1.  Let’s call her Lucy. Our creator, or “writer,” as she calls herself. She calls me Paul, although clearly, I’m Paolo. Paul meets Sasha at the café, Lucy writes, but there’s no dialogue yet, so we speak freely. Sasha (whose real name, unbeknownst to Lucy, is Chance) orders a chocolate croissant and a cappuccino. I, in an effort to stay fit, get a green juice.  … Continue reading Diary of a Dissatisfied Character by Linda Ferguson

Marilyn Monroe at 97 by Linda Ferguson

What a night. Diamonds, I tell you, were not a girl’s best friend, now or then. Fourteen bottles of white pills on my nightstand. And another one: blue, like the ribbon in my brown hair. The one I wore when they dragged me to the orphanage. That last night in 1962. I was unsheathed. Literally. My sleeveless apple green dress on the floor. Hair unwashed, … Continue reading Marilyn Monroe at 97 by Linda Ferguson