Fred Skolnik/Fiction
BASIC FORMS: A PROLOGUE Each thing, insofar as it is in itself, endeavors to persevere in its own being. ─ Spinoza Now we know the language, and we’re fluent in it. ─ Philip Glass The following is Chapter 1...
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Larry Smith/Fiction
Unhappy people are America’s new underclass. You run into some guy on the street who’s just been fired from his job and has a family to worry about, and when you ask how he’s doing, he’ll say “I’m doing just great, just great. Busier now than ever.” He’s not ashamed that he was canned; he’s only ashamed if people think he’s worse off for it, because that would make him a second-class citizen…
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Steven Masterson/Fiction
Lucy pulled her arms down his thighs until her hands reached his knees and pushed herself to her feet. Picking up her bag, she walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She didn’t worry about Jonnie stealing anything—he was a nice guy, better than most—but she went nowhere without the bag. She pulled out her needle and spoon, panicked until she found the smack. Sitting on the edge of the old cast-iron tub, she cooked and shot. She let herself lean on the drug; no more panic, no more craving. Lucy didn’t get high—she got normal. As normal as she could…
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Perle Besserman/Fiction
Karin doesn’t like Carl’s best friend Benjy, and she doesn’t want to join them in a game of poker, but she doesn’t say so because Benjy (who has come to live with them after being thrown out of his apartment two months ago by his second wife) keeps threatening to kill himself…
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Yoshiro Takayasu/Fiction
A few days later, Kiiko said, “Say, what about the story of a woman who makes a bet whether her husband will cheat on her? A friend of hers who bets against her seduces her husband in order to win the bet. It will make you anxious watching him almost succumb to temptation. In the end, he goes back to his wife, and they live happily ever after.”
Read MoreAlan Swyer/Fiction
Kindred Spirits by Alan Swyer “K now what’s amazing?” Ross said as he and Gelber wolfed down an early morning feast of dumplings and porridge at a dim sum joint in New York’s Chinatown. ...
Read MoreRichard Kostelanetz/Fiction
?????? ANSWERS A Cycle of Short-Short Stories Richard Kostelanetz In memory of Novalis [For periodical, print continuously with extra space between entries; if a book, one to a page; wide (Latin?), paginated landscape; so...
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Go Broncos/Fiction by Joe Mills
Photo by Adrià Crehuet Cano on Unsplash *** Go Broncos! by Joe Mills M arisa watches...
Read MoreJessica Noyes McEntee/Fiction
Can You Say Capitalism? by Jessica Noyes McEntee Contributing Writer Papa always said, “Princesses have princes to come to their rescue, but you have me. And Donovan, in a pinch—he’s on the payroll for that.” An...
Read MoreJoe Giordano/Fiction
At the Cemetery by Joe Giordano Contributing Writer “Who died?” Craig’s eyes rose. They were brown like a Basset Hound. “What? Oh, Frank, you surprised me.” If we weren’t on the beach, or under the...
Read MoreFiction/Jean E. Verthein
Plie, Adjust, Tundu, Tap by Jean E. Verthein Contributing Writer Three in the morning. The phone rang. It did, didn’t it? After all, detectives called for midnight lineups to check whether the...
Read MoreHunger and Hallelujahs book review
Hunger and Hallelujahs by Philip Elliott Fiction Big Pond Rumours Press, 2018 $10.00 (Canadian), 22 page ISBN: 978-0-9959662-3-9 Reviewed by Charles Rammelkamp The unnamed Irish girl at the heart of the nine flash...
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