Trash Catbird
We were both staring at the kitchen floor when we heard the thud. Two minutes of silence, then the stifled gong of a crash. We ignored it. Me and her, opposite sides of the kitchen. I wanted her to say something awful back to me.
Monthly Archives: April 2022
Fritter
At first, Les thought Mig never told anyone about his parent’s donut shop because he didn’t want the whole school asking him for handouts. And that’s why she thought he only told her. Not just because she was his girlfriend but also because he knew
The First 50 Pages
To all the abandoned characters. Arthur opens the document to the first fifty pages of his novel and squints in the computer’s white glow. Brent wakes up right away – she hasn’t seen Arthur in over a week, maybe the longest of his hiatuses. Wake
Othered
You’re a block up from Pike Place. It’s the market with the gaudy art deco letters proclaiming in red neon—Public Market Center. Vague, you think. Insincere. You wish you could march straight back in time and slap the hell out its namer. Give it some
Follow the Railroad Toward Nothingness
I didn’t know why people cared about inflation. I knew I wanted money, and I knew the larger the number, the more money I have. My dad said I was only a kid and couldn’t understand the complexity of this world, but I couldn’t care
Untellable Tales, Chapter XXXVII
Within the soundproof walls of The Company, few arts are so useful as the ability to identify and cultivate raw talent. Never did I practice this vital bit of the craft as successfully as in the case to be discussed presently. In previous chapters, I
Cow Ya Doin’?!
Editor’s note: we included an author’s note on this story, below The family dog was diagnosed with cancer in her leg. Easily treatable, my parents told me on the phone. They’d simply cut the tumor out, and blast her with some radiation. Simple. “Worse comes
Fault Lines
In 1906, on April 18th, an earthquake destroyed San Francisco. It rolled from deep underground, from some hidden fault line beneath the earth or the sea and shook the foundations of the city to its core. Buildings snapped in two from the force, crumbling upon
The Trouble With Books
It was the books that were the problem. They’d grown in number and they’d grown in weight, and it’d been maybe not totally sensible to just keep buying them but you never think you’re going to leave, not really, because why would you? Because who
Those Who Breathe and Those Who Sing
It’s a little-known fact that the dead each sing a note with their final breath that follows them into eternity. When they reach the six-feet-under, they continue to give out that note. If someone were to hear all the dead bodies, it would sound like