Fiction

Given that they’d only just met about an hour ago at the porn shop, that they’d both surely used fake names, that they were driving back to the parking lot to say see you later, David (not his real name) was surprised to hear Jesús (not his real name) say “I feel like there’s a …

The deer is dying in technicolor in the backyard, some serious circle of life stuff happening in real-time. I am drinking my coffee and wondering if blood stains grass. I am wondering if deer ticks are real or something the government has convinced us to be afraid of. I am wondering why this all feels …

Why is it that Gujarati Aunties always seem to think they know you? I’m walking toward the mall entrance and there’s this Auntie standing in front of the doors, like she’s waiting for someone. She is holding a plastic department store bag in one hand and a receipt in the other, ready to flash it …

An auntie and an uncle are getting into an argument in front of the church doorway. One usher tries to steer them toward their car and away from the incoming crowds, and the other usher continues handing out the weekly bulletin. Claire has forgotten the names of the couple but recognizes them — they have …

Killinger’s farm is gone. Only the silo’s headhouse remains above water.   The Atlantic refuses to rescind. Hurricanes in February. Killinger can climb no higher in the silo, but the water will. A community formed on Katahdin – the rescue boats begged him. The water will lower. He stayed. The makeshift living space atop the silo had …

“She’s a beaut, ain’t she?”  Evette knew the old nurse didn’t expect a response, but she nodded dutifully, readjusting her hand underneath the curls tickling her palm. The infant’s puckered mouth latched at her breast. Sooty, round eyes looked straight up at hers. How could Evette not get lost in them? They didn’t loll around …

Winner of the 2025 Tobias Wolff Fiction Award In the car, Chicken’s head thumps against the window every time the screws rattle, which is always. So it sounds like krrrCHrattle thHumpB and then the spitting of the car’s exhaust. It’s an old beast. It hurts to lay her head against the car’s window, but Chicken’s already committed to the act. She will keep her head here …

1.Grandpa Timothy, my mother’s father, smells like old newspapers, wears a tweed jacket no matter the weather. At family gatherings, I join the line of cousins waiting to dance with our grandfather, life of the party. Famous for slipping money into our young palms so our mothers don’t take it from us under the guise …

My boyfriend wrapped my favorite collar around my neck helping me feel complete in the soft, faded leather nearly choking me, but with the two finger rule we knew how to play safely, so it felt more like a hug than a strangle, though at times I didn’t mind the feeling of tightness around my …

I was in a pet store buying cat litter when I learned Tay was gone. Several people were buying cat litter that evening. Also, cat food and dog food, and there may have been food of other kinds in some hands—bird, rabbit, hamster, fish—as well as the inedible things we buy to sustain the health …