Fiction – Year VI – Number 44 – January 2021

                                                                  The Blighted Madonna           There was a lady once, an extremely attractive lady, who appeared as to hold the beauty of the holy cherubs in her warm pleasant face and upon her delicate fragile...

The Princess in the Tower             The voices layered over each other--women’s voices--but she couldn’t make out the words. Valentine? Mannequin? She pulled out her hairpin, set down her coronet, loosed her hair. It fell...

The Locusts Have Eaten Everything “He didn’t do it.” Mom takes a deep breath. She exhales. “I don’t care what the other student said—my son would never hurt anyone.” I listen. I maintain meaningful eye contact....

Sick Headache by Thomas Elson Look closely. You are where it began - at a time before polio shots, seat belts, and television. A time when visitors entered houses through unlocked kitchen doors. And, after all these...

BURNT UMBER, BURNT SIENNA by David Obuchowski You tell yourself to not be superstitious. You take a deep breath and squeeze your eyes shut and you assure yourself that omens and jinxes aren’t real. But then...

THE GIRL BY THE LAKE  I worked graveyard shifts at the plywood mill and I hated it, but it paid double a server wage.  The forklift driver I worked with, Elton Frank, said “You’re a...

Bar Harbor, Maine by Luke Black A radiant heating element hummed over a plane of wet tile as the mothers feigned interest in their children's cannonballs. How many feet had padded across the spearmint-colored tile since...

Where I’m From, They Still Celebrate VJ Day By: Angelo J. Sylvester When Henry found it that morning, he realized he never knew his grandfather. He dug it out of the attic from a dust-covered pile...

                                                                                    Sleep Well, Shadow                                                                   By Aliyah Smith Every day, the same routine. Alarm pierces through my skull. Wake up in a cold sweat. Stand up from the mattress on the floor. Eat breakfast. Take a...

The Heart of a Revolutionary Jacob McLaws Zhang Tianyu is being released from the hospital today. The Peking Union Medical College Hospital. I smoke as I wait for him outside. He won’t notice me. He’s never...