Night of the Coywolf
By Christopher Allen Nonna changed after her kitten was eaten. We all did, more or less. But the little fur ball was her greatest friend. She loved him more than Dad, I think. They lived together for a year after Grandpa passed, sharing the two-bedroom bungalow that he liked to say he built with his […]
Cracker
By Bethany Browning Mother died cracking her neck. Balled her fist, positioned it under her chin and pushed sharply to the left. The hyperextension snapped her vertebral artery in two, causing a stroke there was no coming back from. First, the left side of her face slid into a slobbery droop. Next, she was twitching […]
The Freedom of the Hills
By Michael Zamzow They say rock climbing is about facing death, but I’m not sure. Perhaps when I began, I would have made that claim — because it sounds cool, because the comfortable, suicidal children of the suburbs have always believed we should be thinking more about destruction. But rock climbing is fundamentally safe, with […]
Father D
By James Cortese Childhood—here’s what I hated about it. I hated the way you had to be like everyone else. Hated the way you had to pretend to like what you really hated. And most of all, I hated how all the clocks ran so annoyingly slow. On top of all that, I was the […]
Novel Excerpt: (In) visible
By Ivan Baidak I feel that otherness is inside us—in what we think about, in what we consider important, in how we treat people around us. It has always surprised me how different we can be; how different people are interested in different things, from drama to machine-building; how they have different tastes in music […]
Rattle
By Alex Dako, He checked his cellphone; he had two missed calls and a text message that read: “hey man… I need your muscles at my house for a few hours lol. Give me a shout.” He stuffed his phone into his pocket. More money, but it would have to wait. He leaned down on […]
Pancake Day
By Sarah Edmonds They are perfect. Just how he remembers them—better, even. Circular and golden, with purpled unbroken globes all over, each evenly spaced from its neighbour. Real maple syrup from all the way up north drips from lightly crisped edges. He has never had real maple syrup before, so the taste isn’t part of […]
Three Minutes
By Lillian Neal “Three minutes,” I say, struggling to keep the nerves from my voice as I start the timer. I use the mirror to gauge his reaction as I place my phone down beside the sink. His face looks pale, and his morning shadow is making him look tired. His grey eyes flick to mine […]
Maybe Talk to Carl
By Derek Alan Jones Okay, look. I did push the button. Carl told me not to push it, but, I mean, have you ever been told not to push a button? It does something to you. Next thing you know, every muscle you have is aching to push that button, and your brain goes “guys, […]
You Make Yourself Amazing
By Sean Nishi It can get exhausting. The school kids. The team building groups. The seminarians. Especially the seminarians. Today we have a group of skeptical Catholics come in. “What foul God would permit these defects?” says one priest-in-training. “Or rather,” says another one, “how can our faith match the fortitude of these individuals?” The […]