by James D. Mills There is a term used in support groups to describe a sudden onset of extreme emotion. When the dam of composure that you so carefully built comes crumbling down and there is nothing that can withstand the raging rapids of your own despair. The Grief Share…
by Roland Goity Back in the eighties, my buddy Tommy and I saw every hair metal band from Los Angeles and beyond. We even formed our own hair band and noise polluted every neighborhood in Reseda. These days we’re empty nesters, and since his wife was away at a conference…
by Joshua Gessner (This story contains a dead body.) “It’s weird to see a dead one up close.” Those words felt wrong. All dirty and naked; they were almost like a baby. When it first comes out, wailing and red, pretty but in a gross way. I don’t recall Jane…
by John Cody Bennett January, a new semester, a new section of Modern American Fiction: I’m in my blazer and my tie at the head of the table as students fill seats in the seminar room and wait for class to begin. We start with names ― Dylan, Eli, Jasmine,…
by Jess Earl Tomorrow comes and the thing behind my headboard scuttles along the drywall, scales chipping paint as it stretches a claw from the shadows above my pillowed head, only to retreat as I open my eyes. “Good morning,” it creaks in the floorboards of the house, “I’ve been…
by Gloria Cannon (This story contains mentions of abortion.) Gayle was sick with herself and dreaded seeing the day start. How could she not? She was about to do something she had always opposed. The burden of betraying her husband, Derrick, and her faith was a weight too heavy to…
by Quiarah Butler Coll bolted straight up, sweat-drenched and shivering. She was sitting naked on her bedroom floor, thick vines wrapping her like ribbon. Her feet were caked to the ankles in mud and silt. “Damn it! Not again,” she groaned. She’d been sleepwalking again. Fifth night in a row….
by Dan Richardson I first saw the Body in the doorway. I stopped when I saw it, my hands holding tight to my backpack, the straps cutting into my shoulders. The other people walked by without looking at it. Cars glided by, hissing through the puddles and sending icy jets…
by Dakota Jackson The Office of Eternal Collections—better referred to as purgatory, both literally and figuratively, especially to Luci—is becoming quite hectic these days. As the head of the Decisions Department, Luci, (known in his past first as Lucian and later as Lucifer), is in charge of the recently deceased….
by Parker Fendler They lay intertwined in the crib, Spencer gnawing on his Binky and Fred flicking his tongue. I’ve no idea how the seven-footer got out again, but ain’t this the cutest thing? I’d snap a shot for Roy, but he’d throw another hissy-fit. A dozen times he’s said…