I usually took the bus, but one day my parents said they’d come to get me. We lived far out …
Worn-Out Fabric • Meg Tuite
A man lived with less than a quarter of his brain. He kissed his wife and kids goodbye every weekday …
I Scream, You Scream • Amy Rossi
Cindy was seventeen when she developed a no-musician rule, too young to have it carry a real sense of threat, …
Up Ahead’s Another Town That I’ll Go Walking Through • Lori Sambol Brody
Opal reaches across the cocktail table and clinks her bottle of Coors against mine. “Forty is the new thirty!” she …
A Real Boyfriend • Brian Alan Ellis
A real boyfriend will get blackout drunk and use the inside of your car as a urinal. A real boyfriend …
The Only Man in the Whole Room • Robin Bacigalupo
Before Downtown went to shit, a bunch of us used to work maintenance over at the Eastern Columbia building. …
M is for Mercy • Joe Kapitan
As the new personal assistant to the great El Misericordioso, I’ve come to learn a secret. He spends his weekends …
Service • Alice Kaltman
Betty said it would be a nifty way to make a buck. She’d been car hopping up in Bakersfield and …
Dumb and Dumber • Pia Ehrhardt
For ten years my stepsons made sure their mother and I didn’t cross paths at hockey games, debate tournaments, their …
Mad Ruin • Beth Gilstrap
Olivia had her rituals to quiet the noise: running her hands over each leg to get her hosiery just so, …
The World Is Made of Words and Pictures • Girija Tropp
My pencil case is missing. It will turn up in a rearrangement of the universe, but my brain keeps fussing …
Crush • Audra Kerr Brown
There are no practice rooms in the old band building, so they use Mr. Hammond’s office for private lessons, the …
Ghost Dog • Danielle Lazarin
When Owen shows me the photograph of the ghost dog, I say, “That’s a toy,” but I don’t laugh at …
New Bike • William Lessard
[soundcloud id=’263941603′ height=’false’] My father was always doing something nuts. He rammed his car into the house after getting into …
The Walkman • Michael Seymour Blake
“Come on, Grandpa, get up,” I said. Grandpa didn’t budge. He’d been sitting on that ratty, brown armchair for years. …
E – A – D – G – B – E • Bud Smith
I even slept with my prized guitar in my hands. How much I loved it. But while I was in …