Category: June 2026
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In the Aftermath by Phil M. Robinson
Another synthetic sunrise. A plastic dawn. How long has it been now? It’s amazing what you can forget when you’ve spent so long chained to a bed, with webs of bloody tubes to tie you down. Each time I breathe, I feel the drain in my chest as it struggles and strains to filter the…
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That Woman by Rhonda Rosenheck
(A Sestina) The bed, visible through the legs of adults and a child circledround, looks crisp and taut, as if there is no womanbeneath its sheets sending to a stanchion monitor signalsthat measure life. Breathing? Check. BP? Eh. Heartbeat? Slow.Sitting across the room, on vigil at another bed, I can seeonly the child’s silky brown…
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Dear Robert by Gabriella Giambanco
Dear Robert, Do you remember how we first met? I think of it more often than I should. The air was cold that day, yet I felt inexplicably warm, almost as if some part of me already knew you. You said something ordinary; I can’t even recall the words. What I remember is the way…
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A Good Deed at the Hanging Tree by Kris Violet
August 1747, Shepherd’s Bush outside London, midday I can’t see its curdled waters, but the smell of the Thames coats my nostrils and the back of my throat. Who would have thought it could be worse after you’re dead? London is a crowded, sprawling pit where a man can find anything he needs on every…
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Magical Thinking by Hope Nolan
I have headphones on while I stand at the bus stop. No music, just static loud enough to keep me from thinking. A man tries to talk to me as we wait. I ignore him, but my impulse to lie has me digging my key into my wrist. If I tell the man I can’t…
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Watcher by Koren Cowgill
The gaming chair Corporate provided lets you swivel while you scan the broad array of screens, watching employees scurry around preparing for the onslaught of customers. You actually have to call the police or Corporate if someone breaks into the store to steal money from a till, or to report something amiss with an employee.…
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Honey, Please by Kris Green
The scream shakes me from horizontal to vertical as my mind scrambles, going zero to sixty, unconsciousness to full alert. Rachel keeps screaming, not even pausing to take a breath. I try to put my arms around her when she pushes me back, shouting, “Get the fuck away from me!” I try to say something…
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The Birth of the Goatman by John Wolfgram
The basement was thick with cigarette smoke and a little weed, the kind of air that stuck to your clothes long after the night ended. An old lava lamp floated light against the basement wood paneling. River perched on stool, a cigarette dangling from her lips. “Tell them, John,” she teased. “Tell them the story.”…
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The Ghost of Wilhelmine by Hannah J. Roy
Her gravestone reads: A Devoted Daughter, Cared Enough to Erect This Shrine of the Most Sweet Mother of GodAll ghost stories start with Once upon a death and end with white space. They say she was the wind in the chandeliers, a bone cold breath in the hallway. Donning a white taffeta dress, she strutted…
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Rave in a Coma Ward by Harley Carnell
I heard about the raves on my first day in the coma ward. Stephanie, the ward manager, gave me the tour. She was a tough-as-nails veteran whose tenure at the ward varied depending on who you asked. I didn’t know this at the time, but Stephanie was not a joking person. I thought that she…