Here’s the thing that people forgot in those first years when they were …
The Most Cake • Paula Bomer
[soundcloud id=’246632286′ height=’false’] At least I wasn’t getting gang banged. Just smeared with cake, although it looks like cum, …
“The Best Solution” by Shya Scanlon
After I finally freed the thing of its hulking V8, I celebrated with a cigarette from an old pack of …
“Life Lessons,” by Sara Lippmann
“People only want three things.” Here, Nan would pause. So we could fill in, Lucy with her answer, me with …
“Big Hands” by Robert James Russell
Photograph courtesy of Global Pillage. “But I feel invincible,” I say. Dusty’s driving us…somewhere. He might’ve said where we were going …
“Galva, Illinois, 1983,” by Chad Simpson
Maribel hasn’t heard from them in years, but of course they’re still together. They share an email address. When she …
Spoilers • Tia Clark
Jesse always wants someone to take her picture. It’s a combination of loving her freckled face and ensuring that the …
“Hims” by Tasha Coryell
She had always had this expectation that she would love love, but she didn’t. When she was chubby and acne-speckled, …
Lighter and Brighter • Kevin Sampsell
She said she hated my new haircut and clothes and why would I do such a thing and that’s not …
“Dog Whistle,” by Jonathan Papernick
When he was young, my brother David was the most beautiful thing: his long, girlish eyelashes; his pale, pink lips …
Cat, by Philip F. Deaver
Cat had her wrists tattooed, antlers. Antlers in black ink, from her wrists almost to her elbows. When I was with …
Fudd, by Jesse Bradley
Helen stops kissing me when she feels the loose change-sized scars scattered across my stomach and side. I murmur something …
“Ellistown” by Camille Griep
To get out of here, you first need to find a way out of the Ellistown Zoo, home of …
“Here You Go” by Joan Reilly
Since you asked, here I am, and there they are. Don’t worry, I won’t sleep with them in there like …
“Hunting Season” by Shira Feder
The hunters would be drunk and careless, stumbling around the grounds in the bourbon softened haze that would blind poorer …
“Lucky Once” by Stuart Snelson
He was just a boy when his father first took him bone picking. Foraging, they searched for shed antlers. It …
“The Heart of the Cage” by Dessa Bayrock
Before I could tell Megan not to touch it, she raced ahead and thrust her hand in up to the …
“Remember?” by M.M. De Voe
MaryLou, I see on your Facebook page that you are married and have three young kids, but that does not …
Death for Young Love • Kevin Catalano
To do it right, to make pure the omen, we’d share the kill. Our first as a couple to be wed. We wait. We are good at waiting.
Bone Jones • Elvis Bego
Krug would later remember a dream he used to have—but that will come later, when later comes. It was up …
“Rack and Ruin” by Eric Williams
“Rack and Ruin” by Eric Williams The gods come down off the mountains only on fog-choked nights under a …
“A Good Brain,” by Chelsea Laine Wells
In Allison’s junior year her father’s illness worsened and he quit working. Her brother dropped out of college and upped …
“Love, Cliff,” by Georgia Bellas
He had made her a mixtape early on in their courtship. Put all his best stuff on it. John Prine …
“Bowling,” by Gabriel Heller
I liked bowling, even though I wasn’t any good. I liked how the ball came back through a mysterious tunnel. …
“The Ceremony” by Laryssa Wirstiuk
Gross, thought Ruby, before her cab driver bumped a sweaty female jogger as she ran into the street. With Ruby …
“Match,” by Sherrie Flick
His head pinned to the mat, his shoulder a flat wall of floor. The memory rush-floods Tony on Wednesday morning. …
“Scorcher,” by Chauna Craig
Someday it won’t burn, this smoke searing her lungs. And that, thinks Sylvie, after a long drag that shortens her …
They Just Won’t Believe Juan Johnson is Dead • Tyler Barton
Juan, on the den floor, once looked up from a book and said, “You’re my only people.” Which is why …
Three-and-a-Half Billion Chances • Kendra Fortmeyer
Joanie had bad teeth; no one would fall in love with her. We sat at her kitchen table drinking gin …
The Four O’Clock Bird • Kathy Fish
The child knows the man with the patch over his eye is not really going to buy him a hamburger. …
“The Plan,” by Ilana Masad
Photograph courtesy of Global Pillage. The new baby’s endless squalls put Gloria’s plan into action. The baby was the result …
“Charade” by Joseph Baran
“He’s old but not blind.” Sarah looks at a photograph of her five-year-old son with two store-window dollies dressed as …
FIRST PH… CONTEST WINNER! “Mercy,” by Barbara Harroun
I am not in the photo. Uncle Jimmy, the blonde guy, gave me the camera for my 16th birthday. My …
“Free Lunch” by People Holding
My mother embroidered my jeans, but my sweater came with the flower already on it. We found these antlers in …
“Roadkill” by People Holding
I have no idea what animal these antlers came from. They seem crazy, like a mistake in growth, like what …
“Bad Words” by People Holding
Bad words I’ve learned: Shut Up, Stupid, Retard, Butt-face, Fuck, Liar and Jerk-off. My dad’s a butt-faced retard. I want …
“Look Anywhere” by People Holding
Don says, “You’re smiling” and it sounds like a bad thing. He brought clip-on bangs with his camera equipment …
“Bleeding Out” by People Holding
It’s very cold. I’m stuck choosing between a winter coat and this hoodie pulled over my baseball hat. My friend …
“Selfie” by People Holding
I haven’t painted in a while. This was supposed to be a green screen.
“DEER CHILD” by People Holding
Ladies and Demons! ~THE DEER CHILD~ ZYGMUNT WOJTEK and his Sole Companion ~the COUNTING RAVEN~ FROM THE MIRACULOUS SIGHTING AND …
“What Else?” by People Holding
He told me to stick my chest out. This isn’t one of the ones where I’m really doing it, this …
“The Pause” by People Holding
I’ve been holding these antlers for a long time. My wife doesn’t know how to work the shutter. It’s simple: …
“In the Open” by People Holding
This is where I live now! Thanks to Jerry Stuben and Mike Reade and lots of other guys who pitched …
“Lawn” by People Holding
Alice – my mother’s name, mine and my daughter’s (she’s an “Allie”). Husband Phil shot the moose and made a …
“Ready? Ok!!” by People Holding
Just kidding! These are NOT our new poms. Gotcha, guys. This is the first item donated to our annual auction …
“My Brother, Who’s Home From College” by People Holding
My brother who’s home from college told me to come down and stand in the garage. At night the garage …
“I Think I Have This” by People Holding
One Pilsner in and I’m already feeling good. I love afternoons when only one drink loosens you up and makes …
“Symmetry” by People Holding
I had to step to the right a little, then more, but I over stepped. He told me to move …
“You’re Perfect” by People Holding
It’s not my best smile. Shit. Now I feel awkward toward him, and this is the first time I’ve even …
“My Parents’ Bedroom” by People Holding
I would make a great Goth. And I will next month, after recitals. My chin line is very round, but …