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Death by Water
By Douglas W. Bowers Mike couldn’t believe how warm the Florida water felt on his toes. The rare times he had been in the ocean were on the Western side of the country. He could get used to the chill of the Pacific, but the water rolling onto the Jacksonville’s McNichols Beach did not [...]
31Jan2012 | admin | 0 comments | ContinuedSELLING OUT
By Douglas W. Bowers The loose gravel crunched beneath the BMW’s rubber. Elizabeth sat in her car long after she cut the engine, wanting to cry more than anything. Before her, framed by the windshield, stood the two-story farmhouse where she grew up. Her childhood was painted white with green shingles that probably needed [...]
30Jan2012 | admin | 0 comments | ContinuedDead
By Leya Kayas There were windows in the flat that looked out onto the street. Women were in the street, a signal of the changing world. They did not cover their hair, and spoke loudly. Sometimes he listened to their simple inflections, their calling each other habibi as they laughed. He thought about Zahra, and [...]
27Jan2012 | admin | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Megalith
By J. Patrick Carr I first encountered the megalith as a young man, lost and wandering deep in the Greenwood. I found it standing tall in the center of an open glade. Its black granite was smoothed by countless years of weathering and it had no markings upon it save for a perfect circle on [...]
24Jan2012 | admin | 2 comments | ContinuedPeculiar Sacrifices
By M. K. A. Marble Mist shrouded the forest, blown in by the cold winds of November. Crows called to one another through the sounds of rain dripping from branches to the dead leaves that lay in shades of brown, maroon, tan and burnt orange on the ground. The gray clouds in the sky seemed [...]
23Jan2012 | admin | 3 comments | ContinuedDesert Flower
By Marc Colten In his teens Jack Cohen had felt incredibly superior to the grease stained kids who dropped out of Andrew Jackson High to go to the local Vo-Tech. Vo-Tech’s were considered the lowest of the low, even lower than the “special schools” because at least those kids were retarded. The kids who went [...]
19Jan2012 | admin | 0 comments | ContinuedAlternate
By Aaron Fitzgerald I remember a light shining in my eyes. I felt weak and I couldn’t recall my name. I heard a voice echoing in my head. It sounded like what you hear when standing in a large cavern. I was slowly regaining consciousness. As my eyesight became clearer I could make out a [...]
18Jan2012 | admin | 4 comments | ContinuedConfidante
By Michael Barber The guy at Shamrock Personnel rifled through his index cards and picked one out – a possible four-leaf clover in a cluster of maybes – and rattled off some of his notes: “Let’s see now . . . Four Seasons Travel, Madeline Madison, owner, looking for a CPA immediately, had to fire [...]
16Jan2012 | admin | 0 comments | ContinuedPsycho Drama
By EKG I suppose it is odd for a eighteen year old to adopt a fourteen year old. However, I was a mature young adult. I had a place of my own, which I paid for by being a mature young child. I was equipped to raise him. It wasn’t legal adoption per se. He [...]
16Jan2012 | admin | 0 comments | ContinuedLow Ground
By Matthew Cherry A bright bead of fire lanced into the noon sky. Neither of them saw it; Miller was chasing sleep with his cover tilted low over his eyes and Winters was face-down in a George R.R. Martin paperback. When the sound came, low barrel thunder, Winters looked up and saw the chalky contrail [...]
16Jan2012 | admin | 1 comment | ContinuedMonster Matinee, 1968
By Sean Lause The monster is a sock puppet, any reasonable adult can tell. A reptile, it resembles Kukla on bennies, and when it peers round the screen, the children mock it, whack it with ju-jubes and raisinettes, or hurl derisions at its confusion. Only one boy, small and plump, whose face resembles a design [...]
15Jan2012 | admin | 0 comments | ContinuedTaxidermy
By Sarah Scharnweber Jocelyn’s eyes begged for Andrew to stay as she whispered, “Please, just one more night. Just stay tonight and hold me; be with me.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “Please.” Her head swung from side to side and droplets tumbled off of her cheeks. He rolled his eyes. “What the [...]
13Jan2012 | admin | 0 comments | ContinuedRed Hour
By Jeremy Wright He flicked Genghis Kahn on the nose. He gently massaged Cleopatra’s breast. He even traveled across the red plains of Mars without a protective suit. Each night Harold Westcott did the same boring routine. The night watch duty at the museum was one of the dullest occupations he had ever subjected himself [...]
12Jan2012 | admin | 10 comments | ContinuedClosing Time
By J.M. Jennings Eric Jenner was beginning to nod when the tires crunched on the gravelly side of the interstate. He jumped awake and swerved back into his place, thankful that no one was around to see him. Or hit him. He had tried turning on the air conditioning to full blast, and that had [...]
12Jan2012 | admin | 1 comment | ContinuedThe Rain
By Walter Kwiatkowski Darryl Wheeler stood in the doorway staring at the pellets of rain that pounded against the pub window. His reflection looked sadly back at him and for a moment he thought his twin in the mirror was shaking its head at him in pity. I’ve been clean for six years. No heroin. [...]
12Jan2012 | admin | 1 comment | Continued