Black pansies and the rictus of a smile by: D.X. Lewis
"Ooh yuck! I don’t want to live here, Daddy!"
Sophie, our seven-year-old daughter, has spotted seven tombstones at a property we’re visiting....
Sophie, our seven-year-old daughter, has spotted seven tombstones at a property we’re visiting....
A Summons in Spring by: Yermiyahu Ahron Taub
The drive was long but not winding. Direct, blunt even. The front gate locked but easily scalable. Dusted, not caked, with rust. Paint chipped. The young and not-so-young-but-still spry found their way through its pliant bars. The cameras were still on but no one checked the video. Who had time? Everyone knew about the museum. There had been talk some time ago of turning the building into artist studios. Or was it condos? Yes, that must have been it. The meetings had been well-attended and surprisingly calm. He hadn’t attended the meetings, remembers them only as a long-ago item in the metro section.....
May 2024
Date with Death by: D.X. Lewis
The crematorium is busy, the car park full. Pall-bearers carry lavish wreaths and “floral tributes” to the chapel. Someone important will soon go up in smoke. But I am not here to attend a VIP funeral. I am here to mark the 20th anniversary of my mother's sudden death, by visiting the spot where her ashes are scattered...
Lullaby by: Maria Rybakova
Billy who had cut his roommate into pieces and stuffed the pieces into black garbage bags told Dr. Chaikin during lunch that a Russian woman was teaching them a story about a card game. Billy said there was a man in the story, named Hermann, who made an old lady tell him the secret of winning:
“His only dream was to win at cards, and he thought the lady knew how. But the old woman had tricked him, and he lost it. Then he killed her.”...
“His only dream was to win at cards, and he thought the lady knew how. But the old woman had tricked him, and he lost it. Then he killed her.”...
On the Inside by: Rebecca Benison
“I’m seeing some cloudiness in your lungs,” the doctor said as she held up an X-ray, squinting in the light. She was a petite brunette who didn’t look old enough to have finished medical school, Harry thought to himself...
APRIL 2024
The House on G-16 by: David A. Elsensohn
Coming home from San Jose last September, I knew of two routes: take the 5 Freeway south to Los Angeles, or the 1 down the coast. The two paths split widely from each other, leaving a swath of unknown California between. I chose the scenic route down the coast, glad to finally be done with all the meetings.....
Neverending Carousel by: Morgan Chalfant
Tamsen Plante combed the small Berlin curio shop, while her fellow history graduate students went into a jewelry store next door. Eventually, she meandered down an aisle toward the back of the store. After a bit of perusing, her eyes caught sight of a small object half obscured by a pile of second-hand clothing. Brushing the garments aside, soon she was staring at a snow globe.....
Beast Charming by: Allister Nelson
Old wives' tales go thus: Behind every man, a monster. Behind every husband, beast. And roses become thorns in time.
But the curse of my egregious veins only ever comes at midnight: turning me to a monster....
But the curse of my egregious veins only ever comes at midnight: turning me to a monster....
Piper's Pain by: Sarah Kelderman
Piper wanted and craved her job every day. It was like a drug. That needle in her arm and heart, that rush as she entered internet land and the virtual bakery where she worked. She was aware of her body—laying on their mattress, in their dingy studio apartment downtown. It smelled like mold and fried fish, and she heard the constant drip from the rusted faucet, but she also could smell the bakery—the bread and donuts and cake and other sweet things, and it was warm, and she heard laughter and talking and music....
Past Fiction:
Pins and Needles by: Sarah Kelderman
I stood before two narrow staircases, both leading up. The hallway I stood in was dim and orange and covered with a dingy red, oriental rug. The pictures on the walls were smeared and crooked. Somehow I’d become lost inside this building. I’d become so lost I couldn’t even hear the rain and thunder outside anymore, pelting downwards, or hear the talking and laughter of my group of friends.....
I stood before two narrow staircases, both leading up. The hallway I stood in was dim and orange and covered with a dingy red, oriental rug. The pictures on the walls were smeared and crooked. Somehow I’d become lost inside this building. I’d become so lost I couldn’t even hear the rain and thunder outside anymore, pelting downwards, or hear the talking and laughter of my group of friends.....
Wanna Go On The Rollercoaster? by: Dom
A creepy, eerie music filled my ears as I looked around at the amusement park, that wasn’t fun at all. On top of that, a big circus was also in the amusement park, and me and my best friend didn’t go in there because Roxie knew how much I hated clowns, and how much they scared me.....
A creepy, eerie music filled my ears as I looked around at the amusement park, that wasn’t fun at all. On top of that, a big circus was also in the amusement park, and me and my best friend didn’t go in there because Roxie knew how much I hated clowns, and how much they scared me.....
Entity by: Sarah Kelderman
“Excuse me.”
Samantha squeezed her eyes shut harder, knowing that no one could be there. It was the middle of the night. She lived alone. Her apartment door was locked. She distinctly remembered locking it before going to bed. The voice may have been soft and smooth, but it was menacing at the same time.....
“Excuse me.”
Samantha squeezed her eyes shut harder, knowing that no one could be there. It was the middle of the night. She lived alone. Her apartment door was locked. She distinctly remembered locking it before going to bed. The voice may have been soft and smooth, but it was menacing at the same time.....
They Do Not Qwem by: Destroyatron Mark VIII
The Grey observed the remains from the comfort of the central hub. The vessel was saucer shaped, like its own. No damage could be seen, but it could feel the ship's pain. The cry had persisted, faint but desperate, over the many, many light years The Grey had traveled.....
The Grey observed the remains from the comfort of the central hub. The vessel was saucer shaped, like its own. No damage could be seen, but it could feel the ship's pain. The cry had persisted, faint but desperate, over the many, many light years The Grey had traveled.....
The Butterfly Woman by: Sarah Kelderman
Rachel's eyes burned as she sat at her desk, in her cubicle, typing in invoices and answering and directing phone calls. The room was noisy--phones ringing, talking and even laughter, and Rachel could never shake the paranoia that they were laughing at her because she had been such a fool.
She felt something behind her, staring into her back, but when she turned there was nothing, just a glimpse of a shadow figure that made her palms clammy...
She felt something behind her, staring into her back, but when she turned there was nothing, just a glimpse of a shadow figure that made her palms clammy...