The Classmate Who Tells Me Things by Priscilla Atkins

On an island far away, I study for a semester with a white-haired woman who wears black polish, slender (black) clothes over a skeletal frame and, in the one extant photograph, sunglasses. “Witch,” a classmate whispers. Yes. The visiting prof is old enough for a few hairs on her chinny-chin-chins…and why is she here for the year except for the money (necessity—not greed)? She is … Continue reading The Classmate Who Tells Me Things by Priscilla Atkins

Genna RivieccioJanuary 8, 2023January 8, 2023Leave a comment

Fiction

Axis of Distraction by Max Talley

Macy goes through her scribbled “to-do” lists, adding forgotten or neglected items from previous ones onto the current master list. Then she reviews things she texted to herself and writes those down too. Beyond belief. How can she ever complete it? And new tasks are always incoming. Separately, she has a running internal monologue of reminders playing on a loop: Do the laundry, pick up … Continue reading Axis of Distraction by Max Talley

Genna RivieccioDecember 18, 2022December 18, 20221 Comment

Fiction

Letters to My Clothes by Ryder LeVieux

Dear Shirts, You have always been my most reliable companion, you are always there for me even when Pants are being difficult. You always seem to fit me well, although it does get on my nerves when it feels like you should either be tighter or looser, not the in-between stage that you are. We’ve never had any problems…although you, no offense, are probably the … Continue reading Letters to My Clothes by Ryder LeVieux

Genna RivieccioDecember 16, 2022Leave a comment

Fiction

The Pinching Place by Ryder LeVieux

My fascination with the human body reaches far beyond the obsessive. It is the only thing in this world that we really feel, the rest of the world imposes itself onto it. It took me years to really feel my body, perhaps because I spent so many years detached from it. I spent so much of my time squashing down the pain that haunts my … Continue reading The Pinching Place by Ryder LeVieux

Genna RivieccioDecember 14, 20221 Comment

Fiction

Queen Jane by Nik Ruckert

She pulled the hem of her short nightgown down as far as it would allow, fingered a Queen Jane cigarette out of the pack, and lit it right off the gas stove. As the cigarette hung out of her mouth, she lowered the flame under her oatmeal with one hand and ran the thumb of her other across the raised crown logo on the front of the crush-proof cigarette box before … Continue reading Queen Jane by Nik Ruckert

Genna RivieccioSeptember 11, 2022October 30, 2022Leave a comment

Fiction

Oblivion by Susie Gharib

His mind had stripped every surrounding object of color, shape and sound. Substance is an illusion that deludes one’s eyes. He claims to have insulated every nerve cell in his nose so that no smell or odor can resurrect any shreds of the past, any associations or residue that may in his subconscious still reside. He boasts the fact that his ears need no plugs … Continue reading Oblivion by Susie Gharib

Genna RivieccioAugust 3, 2022Leave a comment

Fiction

Being There by Billie Pritchett

Una played this game where she circled around the professor’s chair, over and over, hoping he would look at her and, if not her, then the shadow of her naked body swirling against the maroon walls in the lamplight of her rented home. He read Sein und Zeit, the black jacketless hardcover gripped tightly in his hands. She leaned in and lifted his thumb from the … Continue reading Being There by Billie Pritchett

Genna RivieccioJune 23, 2022Leave a comment

Fiction

Streams of Consciousness by Susie Gharib

I teach Virginia Woolf to fourth-year students in the English Department at the University of Ethics in the middle part of the globe. I have a lot of fun explaining her technique to a hundred eager students by always beginning with my own stream of consciousness which is triggered by the word Glasgow. A string of images flows beginning with the swans at Knightswood Park … Continue reading Streams of Consciousness by Susie Gharib

Genna RivieccioJune 17, 2022Leave a comment

Fiction

dreams.com/true by Jérémy Bernard

Awake I check the fridge: notice the habitual lack of food, close fridge, disappointed. Half an hour later I lower my standards: check the fridge again, notice half of a lemon and some possibly expired cream cheese, close fridge, disappointed. Another half hour passes: I find a stack of crackers stuck between the two cushions of my couch, open fridge, take the lemon and cream … Continue reading dreams.com/true by Jérémy Bernard

Genna RivieccioMay 29, 2022May 29, 2022Leave a comment

Fiction

In Rough Economic Times, the Community College Instructor Teaches Critical Reasoning by Paul Dickey

I don’t remember working for the Mafia, but it is possible. I keep finding things in the basement: wads of cash in small denominations; arguments for the existence of God too good to be true; boxes full of old, irrelevant premises without claims; young men and women working sixty hours a week and preferring to use their leftover time to text each other rather than … Continue reading In Rough Economic Times, the Community College Instructor Teaches Critical Reasoning by Paul Dickey

Genna RivieccioMarch 13, 2022Leave a comment