Fiction - Year V - Number 34 - March 2020

ROLEPLAYINGby Matt Gillick  The man got in the truck after the driver made the point that he shouldn’t be out in the open when the fog rolled in. They were driving now. The passenger’s name...

CHRISTMAS TREE HEISTby Angela Smith  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing on the other end of my cellphone. Someone had been cutting down the Colorado blue spruce trees, Fraser fir trees, and even a...

A FORK IN THE ROADby Gary Delmar Jaycox   “Can I pee in the back of your truck? Pleeeese.”            Thus roused from a fleeting daydream, I turned to my left to see her standing there. On...

THE BROKEN COMPASSby Ciaran McLarnon  From a distance they seemed smooth and angular, but still snow managed to cling to the slate-grey peaks that kept the landing strip secluded. Bryce watched through the porthole beside...

SILVIES VALLEY RANCHby Michael Amato  "Morning, Sheriff," Cole says.            "What's going on here, Cole," the Sheriff says. .            "We received a disturbing call earlier today from Silvies Valley Ranch," Cole says.            "That's like the fifth...

CADAVER IN THE FORESTby Robert Faszczewski Author’s Note: The following story is purely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or incidents is strictly coincidental. *****The badly decomposed body lay deep in a long-unused well in one...

GOOD MORNINGby Samuel Stone  The unmistakable foreignness of the body is the first thing that occurs to me. It’s the first thing to really occur to me this day, since I’ve only just woken up,...

THE RUNby Stan Dryer Harry Staunten had travelled far in Thatchford. He had run its broad streets in springtime, between the ample lawns bright with blooming shrubs. He had lapped the track at Langley Park...

THE SPIN CYCLEby Donna Lee Miele  The top-load stuck at drain.A problem because Frank’s good work pants were in there. He only had two pairs—the others were tar-stained from a driveway job he probably should’ve...

ANNIVERSARYBy Jessica Spindler Olivia slumped into the hotel room’s lime green armchair and propped her legs on the ottoman. She ran her fingers over the golden tin cigarette holder and popped the clasp. “I thought you...