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The Collector by J. T. Fisherman
My old man didn’t teach me much before he split last year, but at least one lesson he hammered home with fist and boot has served me well so far. “Never let the bastards know what you know.” He never really said who the bastards were, but I had a good idea that he meant…
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The Archive of Vanishing Things by David Anson Lee
The first alteration was almost invisible.In a photograph from 1998, my father’s wristwatch disappeared.Weeks passed before anyone noticed. Then a wedding photograph lost a guest. A precise absence remained: a space in the arrangement, a disturbance in the light, as though reality had forgotten to finish composing itself.The revisions accelerated.A childhood photograph removed the swing…
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Keep Sweet by J. S. Douglas
Apply cream to your skinErase those wrinkles Wear skirts and dressesSmile and speak softlyTend the childrenDo not step into the garden of bonesOr call up to the house standing on chicken legsOr make yourself comfortable at its hearthWhatever you doDo not talk to the croneAs she prepares another skullFor her gate post J.S. Douglas is…
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Slightly Bitter by Rhonda Rosenheck
Skeltonic (Tumbling) Verse Was having a fine time,didn’t need that extra dimethat moms gave just in casewe needed to make escapesto have a stab at call-a-cabbefore a bad datebecame a sad fate. Went next to dip fondue.Cheese, bread and skew-ers red from strawberry dew.We laughed and drank – British gruyere stank –bubbling chocolate, rankedyummiest on…
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Oat Bunches with Fruit by Ian Sacks
The cereal wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Or rather, it wasn’t, but also was. Rumiko was certain she’d only purchased one bag of granola, taken down now to about one-third full. So why was there another one beside it? It was funny, how time had seemed to slip away after being let go…
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Flinch by Renee Acosta
Arthur Finch had given up on the possibility of dignity sometime around the age of forty-three, when the last respectable clump of hair abandoned ship and swirled defiantly down the shower drain. Now, six years later, the most exciting part of his week was the dimming of the fluorescent lights as they powered down for…
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Ghost Dog by N. R. Schmidt
Ginny Flamburger was haunted by the ghost of her dead dog. The dog in question, a large German Shephard-mix thing with constant drool and paws the size of catcher’s mitts, was omnipresent in life. He wasn’t an obtrusive ghost, no, he didn’t make a ruckus when there was company or romantic partners over, but he…
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The Creek by Bianca Ambrosino
She didn’t see ’em down theredown thereall the eyes in the creek don’t blink don’t blinkor they might make a move on youon youthey’ll sink their teeth right into them bonesyour boneslay under your feet you’re meatnow, she don’t see ’em so they follow her homeher homeain’t been quite right since the sun went downdown…
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Within a Shadowed Wood by Sophie Gazarian
Grandmother’s house lies silent as it awaits the arrival of Little Red Riding Hood. It is a squat redwood cottage with a grey stone chimney that spits smoke into the clear blue sky. Grandmother had lit a fire and put the kettle on to welcome Red Riding Hood, as she always does. But Grandmother is…
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The Funeral Eulogy by Lilia Mahfouz
He died the way he lived: like a fool. That was my first thought when I received the phone call announcing the news. Soon enough, I was showered with words of empathy, as befitted my newly acquired status as a widow. I didn’t even need to pretend to earn their compassion. In that circle of…