I’m still confused as to why I was fired from the clothing store on my first day when all I was trying to do was be helpful, supportive and direct with each of my customers. I told them honestly and fairly what I thought of the clothing they were purchasing so that each would be satisfied and want to return to the store again. As … Continue reading Misunderstood by Jeffrey Zable
I catch glimpses of her darting across campus. I turn my head, and she’s gone. Blue jeans, fluttering faded blue sleeves. Then one night I see her in the library, rattling a metal cart loaded with books down an aisle. Like a moth, I’m drawn there every night to get my fix of light: a glimpse of worn sandals, bare toes, twig fingers with little … Continue reading Jem in Love by Linda Ferguson
My mom rarely let me have cotton candy, but as I lay with my back against the dew-covered grass on that hill in Green Valley, that’s exactly what the clouds looked like. The sun shined bright enough to make my eyes want to close. My Sunday school teacher, Miss Jackie, had said that everything we could see in nature was made by God. I wondered … Continue reading Mushrooms by CLS Sandoval
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
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
Dear Ms. Esperanza: I greet you at the beginning of a great submissions process. The readers’ reports for CROSS MY HEART were wildly enthusiastic, and though it took me some time to get to it, I’m still reeling from the experience. Last night, I started reading your manuscript on the train and when I looked out the window I was in Connecticut, which was awkward, … Continue reading No Cigar by Charles Holdefer
So there I was, having sex with Joyce Carol Oates, everything going quite nicely, lights low and spirits high—it’s hard to find the words but I felt taken toward another place, a good place, the best, and then an awareness came upon me. No doubt because of the way Joyce was twisting, the angle of her arm, a shift in my gaze and a glimpse … Continue reading Dearest Reader by Charles Holdefer
A thirty-six-year-old, seven-foot-two-inch magician named Adam pulls an angry, obese, buck-toothed, black-and-white spotted, one-eyed rabbit out of a gray velour hat at a birthday party for a five-year-old child attended by fourteen children. Before Adam can restrain the rabbit, it attacks and maims three of the children. The next day, two police officers arrest Adam, who is assigned a court-appointed lawyer that has him evaluated … Continue reading Adam and Eve by David Sheskin
She had no idea she could move that fast. She wasn’t exactly unfit, but she wasn’t exactly sporty either. Maybe third place in a running race at school once, and somewhat adept in a couple of half-hearted volleyball games, but nobody would ever describe her as athletic. Ro, on the other hand, had always been sprint champion and, even now, was still blitzing it in … Continue reading Those Damn Singing Competitions by Kate Maxwell
The cycle had begun and there was no stopping it now. Bruce was still leaning into the fridge and complaining when I came back from the photocopier. Apparently, there’d been three Sicilian pizza pieces leftover from yesterday’s lunch meeting which Bruce had wrapped in paper towels and stored in the fridge. And apparently, everyone knew he intended to eat them for lunch today as nobody … Continue reading It’s the Principle by Kate Maxwell
