by B. Cray “Chamomile” placed fifth in Southern New Hampshire University’s 2021 Fall Fiction Contest. Karyn found more beauty in the world when she softened her gaze. The thing she appreciated most about her bedroom was the birdfeeder Julian had placed just outside the window last spring. It was an attempt…
by Moe Hashemi (This story contains suicide.) To bring the dead to life Is no great magic. Few are wholly dead: Blow on a dead man’s embers And a live flame will start. —Robert Graves, “To Bring the Dead to Life” “How are you feeling,” he says. No hellos…
by Bailey Sweatman Lex Barrett was doing a hundred and forty-five down a highway that looked more like a farm road, thinking about the estate lawyer and her dead dad. He was recently dead – her dad, not the lawyer – and she was avoiding the appointment to hear his…
by Elisa Stancil (This story contains sexual assault.) One summer when I was still a small girl, my father—thin as a crane back then—crouched beside me on a big, flat rock, his arms and knees akimbo. His hand was steady on my shoulder as we watched the American River surge…
by Myra Bellin I have a distinct early memory of watching my mother as she diced onions for a dish she called minute steaks and onions, a greasy, delicious mess of meat better known as butter steak smothered in fried onions. After peeling the onions and slicing off each end,…
by Maria Wickens (This story contains suicide.) “It would be absurd if we did not understand both angels and devils, since we invented them.” ― John Steinbeck, East of Eden The weeds sprout fast around Finn’s gravestone. “We should put in a permanent planting to keep it tidier,” Dad muses….
by Dwight R. Hilson Oh, you will love it here; everyone is so nice and friendly, and the nurses on the full-care wing can handle all but the most severe cases—God forbid. There’s almost no reason to leave. I heard you’re in the Dayton Wing. You know, they’re all named…
by Kelly Cofske (This story contains domestic violence.) As Timmy headed down the drive toward home, he smelled fresh-baked gingerbread in the air. He felt warm inside that Mom made his favorite after-school snack on such a day. Rounding the corner of the house, he headed for the back garden…
by David Vonderheide I remember to the minute the last time I saw snow. My family and I were on a snowspotting trip to New Hampshire, crowded out on the balcony of our Airbnb in the wee hours of the night. A spattering of flakes, embattled with a wispy updraft,…
by Gina Scott The line, four deep, seems daunting this late in the afternoon. Jenny asks herself if she really has the time to wait, and more importantly, if it’s worth the wait to buy the birthday card she has taken too much time to choose. What she wants and…