By: Dennis Vannatta 1 Zeke got a lot of mileage out of killing his little brother, Jacky Boy. Those who’d always suspected that Zeke carried some dark thing within him saw Jacky Boy’s death as the inevitable sprouting of…
By: Jun A. Alindogan I did not expect such an event to happen, but I think it was inevitable. I was busy teaching, which took me to different locations in the city, while my elderly mom stayed with my younger…
By Anthony Paolucci Since I was a child, I had heard tales of the People. A group of nameless survivors who braved the desolate lands long after the sky was scorched. They were a myth to some. Others, the last…
By Philip Graubart “Pickleball? You’re not going to Grandpa’s 90th birthday party because you have a pickleball tournament?” My mother was stacking boxes, her back to me. Dust mites tickled my nostrils. I was two weeks past my 35th…
By: Farheen Shehzadi It was a Sunday in December 2016— a night cloaked in the deepest shades of winter. The bitter cold seeped through every narrow alley of Mariabad, wrapping each corner in silence and frost. It wasn’t just another…
By: Kevin Armor Harris The business with the pressure in my ears, that horrid popping I had in my head that I couldn’t explain, this is what happened. I went back to the hospital, the clinician had the scan shot,…
By: Ethan Goffman Aphorisms for a Lonely Planet Mourning Dove A mourning dove chose to nest on the lantern just above our patio, which seemed too low to be safe. Day after day, the dove sat diligently, nurturing her eggs….
By: Sayan Roy Life was very simple then. It was summer. Winds were blowing gently throughout. Animals were playing around, birds sang from branch to branch, and in the middle of the forest, we stood — two small saplings, wide-eyed,…
By Douglas Young “How much longer before we get there?” Zelma asked from the back seat’s right window. “Yes!” Tucker exclaimed with one hand on the wheel and the other hitting the roof of his old car. “Thank…
By: Kenneth M. Kapp Less than a minute into their argument, Vern switched gears. “You men are all alike. All you ever want is meat and potatoes. It’s no big deal if I throw in a turnip just to broaden…