by Maureen Winemiller “Mr. Sunshine” is an honorable mention in Southern New Hampshire University’s 2024 Fall Fiction Contest. Walter Schmidt hurried up the cement path that led to the modest bungalow on Pine Street. He had lived in the run-down house for almost forty years and knew the walkway like the…
by Nannette Vernon “Across the Vast and Unforgiving Landscape” is an honorable mention in Southern New Hampshire University’s 2024 Fall Fiction Contest. The sun glinted off a car in the distance, a little blip of light, an occasional shimmer along the dull gray highway dissecting the vast Wyoming plains. The…
by Sara Carey “Swallow” is an honorable mention in Southern New Hampshire University’s 2024 Fall Fiction Contest. This story contains sensitive topics. Before me, on the bathroom counter, sat two translucent orange pill bottles with no labels. I stood with my back against the subway-tiled walls. My best friend Olivia…
by N. Ryan Tucker “Train a Comin’” placed first in Southern New Hampshire University’s 2024 Fall Fiction Contest. I don’t remember makin’ the devil no damn deal. Musta bargained with him when I was a kid. Can’t call to mind much of them times anyway. I knew it weren’t no…
by Amy Midgett “See” placed third in Southern New Hampshire University’s 2024 Fall Fiction Contest. The 757 bucked and shuddered beneath their feet. Hank gripped Elizabeth’s hand and she buried her face in the crook of his neck and shoulder. With his free hand, he cupped the back of her…
by Jenel Alan “The Roller Coaster at the End of the World” placed fourth in Southern New Hampshire University’s 2024 Fall Fiction Contest. I have PhDs in three fields, including biochemistry, so I know the correct dosage to put in his apple juice. To get him away from his parents,…
by Kenneth Bell A group of orcs rallied in front of a food bank. Some of them hoisted up picket signs that read “Meat is Murder” as they protested and roared to all within earshot. Others carried signs with graphic depictions of bloodied and severed limbs. The group formed a…
by Tayler Tucker From his lips billowed wisps of smoke, curling upwards enshrouding the hollow sockets where eyes should have been, cycling in a perpetual dance. His visage bore a labyrinth of wrinkles etched deep into his blueish foggy skin. God only knew where those ‘eyes’ led. His hair hung…
by Marah McCarty (This story contains themes of miscarriage.) Blood stains are on her fingers. Suppressing feelings, she moves methodically. Flush, turn on sink, scrub her hands clean. She is now only a series of dreams. She is no longer supposed to be observant to her heartbeat or the pull…
by Camille Hatcher My life is a book. The Book writes itself. And real people, strangers and familiars, consult it daily. Some, to follow a trend set by best-selling book lists; others, to obtain unfiltered gossip about people they know. All attempt to uncover a thirteen-year-long mystery: its author. Idiots….