CATHERINE HARNETT: Baby Doll

Artistic, Submissions, , , , , ,

Julie Harrington’s mother made her into a living doll, blue eyes open, staring into space, hungry for invisible food, she never wet her diaper or cried: such a good baby, talking only when her string was pulled: I love you, let’s play, may I have a cookie, you hurt me.

Catherine Harnett is a poet and fiction author from Northern Virginia who has published three books of poetry and a number of short stories which appear in national and international magazines and anthologies. See more at catherineharnett.com.

CHARLINDA BANKS: Spring ’89

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , , ,

For hours from Missoula to Calgary, Jake didn’t drive straight. He zoomed past those empty cop cars that are meant to scare you into compliance. He liked that you couldn’t know they were empty until you passed them, but you could know you were a black boy, crying, laughing, speeding.

Charlinda Banks is an emerging writer currently living in Boston, MA. She mainly writes about family, gender, sensuality, and ghosts through poetry, fiction, and creative essays. When Charlinda isn’t writing she is working in the nonprofit arts, reading, or lighting a candle.

SUSAN HEISNER: And Your Hair Falls Out, But Who’s Complaining…

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

You’re bludgeoned with (arguably) the scariest diagnosis you’ll ever receive. Parts of your body are chopped off, dissected, catalogued, banked. You’re tethered, drips saturating what remains with killer chemicals. You lie bare, pinpointed radiation beams burning tender fresh scars.

Finally to hear: “If you die of something else, this worked.”

Susan Heisner, aka the wyowordslinger, writes for fun and connection.

CALLA SMITH: Washed-Up Mermaids

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

Sometimes you cry in the kitchen; sometimes I do. Our teeth grew sharp and our legs tails; we didn’t have a choice as the saltwater rose. But together we can dance in the waves that almost reach the ceiling. Two of a kind. Bound together by something stronger than blood.

Calla Smith lives and writes in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She enjoys continuing to discover all the forgotten corners of the city she has come to call home. She has published a collection of flash fiction “What Doesn’t Kill You”, and her work can also be found in several literary journals.

AMANDA A GIBSON: After the Service

Adventure, Amusing, Submissions, , , ,

Lorraine bit into another buttery popover, the honey-lemon glaze making her swoon. Heavenly—worth the two-hour service. The daughter drew close; panic constricted Lorraine’s throat. She prepared to spin her lie of friendship with the deceased, then the daughter turned away.

Lorraine could already taste the chicken and mashed potatoes.

Amanda A. Gibson’s writing has appeared in journals such as The Common, Five Minutes, Orca, and JMWW. She’s working on her second novel. Amanda spends as much time as possible outdoors.

MATTHEW EICHENLAUB: Secret Regret

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , ,

October: crimson, burnt-orange and gamboge, a poisonous yellow powder once used in paint.

We are living above a paint store in Chicago, she wrote, come visit! Oh, how I wanted to.

Sometimes, in my writing group, I write about a paint store. They think I’m writing about a paint store.

Matthew is fortunate to sometimes live near a lake in Maine where loons swim and sometimes yodel and hoot late at night. And sometimes on a day like this with few clouds in the sky and mountains in the distance a warm breeze will sweep across the lake and take your breath away.

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: Remote

Stories, Top Stories, , , , ,

I hunch over computer screens.
My wife tries to get me outside.
I have to complete these editing jobs. We have heating, cell phone bills, electricity, and groceries to cover.
She tells me I’m remote.
I shut down the computer. Take her hand. We walk into the night, clouds parting.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA fiction program. His stories, “Soon,” “How To Be A Good Episcopalian,” “Tales From A Communion Line,” and “Community Time,” have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes. Yash’s work has been published in SmokeLong Quarterly, The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, and Ariel Chart, among others. He has been working on a short story collection centered around two siblings and their quest for the American Dream. Yash lives in Garden Valley, Idaho.

SIM SHARIFI: The Zigzag Less Travelled

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The path to my school had a shortcut cutting diagonally through a square walkway. I always avoided it, figuring it wasn’t official. Then one day, I saw they’d finally paved it, making the route “real.” Guess I’d been behind the curve—and the crowd—all along, just stubbornly zigzagging away.

Sima Sharifi is linguist and translator, fiction enthusiast, and Vancouver-based author. Her debut novel is currently with the editor, readying for publication.

MIRIAM N KOTZIN: Change

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Weeknights Jack had emptied his pockets into a cracked blue bowl on their bureau. Fridays they’d count the money and splurge: chips, beer, a pay-for-view. They’d wrangled over crumpled dollar bills, over what to choose. Wrangled, Jack thought, over everything. He missed their wrangling. Missed counting. He hated the change.

Miriam N. Kotzin writes fiction and poetry. She is the author of five collections of poetry, two collections of short fiction, and two novels—most recently the novel Right This Way (Spuyten Duyvil). Her 50-word stories have been published in 50-Word Stories, 50 Give or Take, and Blink Ink. She teaches literature and creative writing at Drexel University.