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...

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...

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.”

Summer’s Silence It was June and Auntie Mabel and Uncle Jim had come up from Alabama to visit for two weeks. With them came George, the youngest cousin, my...

Beneath the Gray Brioni Suit                Beneath the gray Brioni suit, underneath the Salvatore Ferragamo five-fold Italian silk tie and the tailored John Varvatos shirt, on the day...

Sick Headache by Thomas Elson Look closely. You are where it began - at a time before polio shots, seat belts, and television....

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...

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...

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....

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...