By Jane Finlayson “Arils.” “Arils?” Deb stopped digging the flesh from the out-of-season pomegranate imported from god-knows-where and held up sticky hands in surrender. The juice dripped and wound around her wrists like a henna tattoo. She squinted up at Doug sitting on the porch. “That’s what they’re called.” He…
By Jamie Dill “Will that be all?” says a voice that hasn’t decided if smoking two packs a day are doing it any harm. Is it a man or a woman? I can’t decide, then conclude that it could be either. In this moment, the voice is everyone and everything,…
By Scott Christopher Beebee how does one know theirheightened sexual proclivitiesin kindergarten?it is what happened tome but good luck gettinga straight answerfrom this bent,detoured, rattled& deveined source not only had i knownof my homosexualitybut the more importantpiece is my beinga transgender person before you go offthe rails by sayingthere’s no…
By Marnie Lyn Adams The odor—the putrid stink of human feces—woke him. Ethan Jacobson’s long frame covered the narrow bed. The room was spartan, monk-like, devoid of teenage trappings. Besides the bed, the room contained an end table, a small desk and chair, and a dresser, all stripped of any…
By Amy Covel I was moreconfidentwhenI knewnothingat all. NowI knoweverything,and IwishI didn’t.
By Alfredo Salvatore Arcilesi Millie mooed. Cate mooed with her. The cow stared at them. Millie giggled at the old joke, a pure, authentic song. Cate giggled with her, exaggerated, trembling notes. The cow stared at them. Millie continued to pet the cow’s cheek. Cate stroked the other, looking for…
By Caleb Coy “Why yes, I did read a poem to Nikki Giovanni,”I will say casually. “Two poems, actually.”Yes, me and thirty other peopleAt a Barnes and Noble poetry reading. Nikki begins, describing herselfAs the sacrificial lamb, the firstTo have one’s throat cut beforeAn audience hungry for placation. I go…
By Holli Harms “Cereal and Fire” placed first in Southern New Hampshire University’s 2020 Fall Fiction Contest. My sister wakes up in a room. She wakes and finds that when she tries to move she can’t. Her arms and legs are held down. Strapped down. She is strapped to a…
By Jennifer Taylor “Eggshells” placed second in Southern New Hampshire University’s 2020 Fall Fiction Contest. One day in the June of her eleventh year, I awoke to find the whole world blanketed in white. Eggshells …everywhere. I had been warned this is what would happen with a girl child. One…
By Laura Carnes Williams “The Jump Off” placed third in Southern New Hampshire University’s 2020 Fall Fiction Contest. Deke is let into the fraternity house by a baggy-eyed Bro in insignia-branded pajamas, gnawing on a chicken wing. The Bro shuffles away to join the others, sprawled around the flat-screen in…