Fiction - Year III - Number 10 - November 2017

HOOK MANBy Michael Warren “That’s bull-shit!  There’s no such thing as a Hook Man.”  Inky was quite certain on this point.  “That’s just a story.”There were five of them:  Martin, Teeter, Paz, Inky and Tom. ...

THE OPPONENTBy Mark Hannon He sat on a folding chair, dripping sweat, his heart rate slowing down, the fight over for several minutes. Feeling the water run down his nose, he concentrated on timing when...

EPIPHANY AND THE ALABASTER ROSEBy Adrian Encomienda Daylight dimmed beyond Lazaro’s bedroom window, leaving cold fluorescence . He sat at the edge of his bed with a cigarette sticking out of his mouth, in waist-deep...

DO YOU KNOW HOW FAST YOU WERE GOING?By Jeffrey Kass “Freeze boy!” the officer shouted as he drew his 9 mm handgun and pointed it right at the kid’s head.The white plain clothed police officer...

RUDE AWAKENINGBy Michael Washburn Chris Sievert didn’t know whether the disturbing visions he began to experience in his thirteenth year grew from a long-ignored brain injury, or whose fault the neglect of that injury might...

THE LADY OF THE HOUSEBy Dennis J. Dymek No one quite remembered anymore when Bob and Emily Taylor had moved into their remote cottage on the outskirts of town. Everyone knew, however, they must have...

GIN BLOSSOMBy Michael LeBlanc    To him it was magic. All of it: The projector cutting through darkness luring flies into the spotlight. The rows of chrome bumpers polished so bright he could watch the towering...

WORKING THE EDGE  By Grant Segall Stefan picked his way down the driveway, skirting a pothole with the season’s first ice, trying to save what was left of his hip for what was left of the...

HARD COALBy Terry Sanville Two sisters climb the mine road that disappears into the hills above Cumbola, Pennsylvania. Their breaths smoke in the early light as they struggle through waist-deep snowdrifts. The wind tears at...

KIOKUBy Shirley Asano The old woman paints a cone-shaped green mountain onto heavy white paper, and in front of the mountain, a small kimono-clad figure, one triangle for a body and an inverted one for...