Fiction - Year V - Number 38 - July 2020

DESI DINNER PARTY When your mom says you’re spending Saturday night at Sunnah Auntie’s house, you groan and try to convince her otherwise. Your mom instructs you to pick out a Pakistani outfit. There’s no...

The Fireplace I recall that morning with clarity rarely present in my memories. Fallen leaves chased across frosted grass, their paths directed by an unseen force. Church bells cracked the frozen air, marking...

“Holy Crap!” Caroline screamed, and scrambled back into the air-conditioned house, slamming shut the sliding glass door to the patio. She should have softened her blasphemy to, say, “Crap!” But in her terrible fright,...

All Those Secrets We Shored Up ALL THOSE SECRETS WE SHORED UP She was talking about Damien again. They were sprawled out by the shore in bikinis, Tati in her white lace set, Ruth in...

THE POOR WOMAN AND HER DAUGHTERS There once was a very poor unmarried woman by the name of Leticia who had given birth to a second daughter who she named...

EMPIRE ACCESS (“Kiss Me Before You Go”) A Short Story by John Richmond (Copyright © John Richmond 2020) He intended it to be an “in-and-out” sort of trip. Take the 4AM-ish Amtrak Empire Access out of...

The Stopper by Aaron Israel It was early. Waves were slapping the shore. Dawns rays were peeking above the dark waters. A gray sunrise like that would never make the papers. I thought it was beautiful....

Like Dancing with a Cigarette Lighter Gold Coast, Australia, 1995 It’s Friday! You fumble with the notes and coins in your weekly pay packet; you want the latest fashion magazine from Milan. In the summer heat,...

AN UNCOMFORTABLE RIDE By Jennifer Brewer The cool air blasted into the Town and Country minivan. It was a couple years old now, but I loved my purchase. It fit my family of five, had all...

CAT STORY “Be quiet! Now it’s the cat’s turn to ask us questions!” “The cat had not come of its own free will, so it couldn’t be blamed now; it had been grabbed by...