By: Bruce Levine The rain had lasted for three days and the streets looked more like a river than pavement. Walking his dog became more of an effort each time as the torrents of water washed against them and the…

By Gaither Stewart                                            1. At thirty-six years I’m on record as the youngest Operations Director in the history of the international cultural organization where I’ve worked for the last nine years. Now as my best friends know, I’m not…

By Chris Keyser There was no time for basking in it.  Perks Cafe couldn’t endure Ken Stagman for long before oscillating into hysteria.  And he knew it.  They knew it too.  A single iphone camera’s shutter flash would dash the…

By Sandra Ding During most daily commutes, one only sees strangers and doesn’t look closely. On an early evening in October, while the city dwelled in a soft, yellow haze, amid the bustle of the streets filled with the shuttling…

By: E.R. LeVar An old bonnet of hers still rests on a hook on the wall, long blue ribbons trailing down to the floor. A well-worn shawl drapes over the back of the chair, holes in the knitting letting the…

By Kristen Henderson      Carlos discovered an open box of D-con rat poison under a pile of shoes in the back of his grandmother’s closet.  He’d been called home from ‘Nam after his grandmother was found dead, rigid, straight as…

By: Francine Witte “So, let’s review,” says Man 1 “Right,” says Man 2, “we kill her at noon.” They lean over the high lip of the bridge rail. Straight down to the blue of the stream. “Not kill,” says Man…

By: Francine Witte There is suddenly no weather. Rain dries up before it falls and wind is all puffed out. “It’s a show of respect,” the anchor man says, and his lovely co-host agrees. The sun is gone, too, leaving…

By: Zach Murphy Sierra liked to eat ice cream during blizzards. She’d make snow angels and draw funny faces on them. In the Spring, she liked to bask in the grass for hours and hours, as if the insects were…

By: Ed Nichols I still remember the last words my mother said to me.  “Horace, get out of the rain!  Get your butt up on this porch and…” she grabbed her throat, let out a low groan, and just dropped…