By J. M Grenier The neighbors have gotten really strange since the Pandemic started. Not that they weren’t already, but lockdown seems to have everyone on edge. Take Rodney, for example. Retired firefighter. Sits on the common-area patio drinking most of the time, in all kinds of weather. He’ll throw you a friendly hello every …

by Rebecca Waukau             The notebook was tattered, the binding bent and cracked like a well-traveled road. There was no name on the front, just a marbling of black, white, and what looked like old stains of blood.             I knew I should have run after the woman who just got off the bus. The …

by Vivian Wakefield Alone here, below the overhang, incessant droppings from icicles barely miss me, falling against my black slip-ons instead. I like to take my cig breaks out here, even when it’s this bitter out. As I exhale, the mix of smoke and cold air makes my breaths appear comical. Head buzzing, I lean …

By Gina Guerra I live in a society that depends on fire, and yet it terrifies me. It’s in our car’s combustion engines, it’s in our gas stoves, it’s the main attraction at our homecoming bonfire. Fire is invaluable in legends across the world—Prometheus stole it from Olympus, Maui from the Mudhens – hell, even …

By Hannah Deneve Sitting towards the back of the deserted lot, I can see its dull silver glean: a 2004 Honda Accord with cracked leather seats, a dent and scrape along the left side–caused by a minor accident back in 2018–and a broken cassette and CD player. It’s not pretty, but it gets the job …

By Jared Perrone Gardon BloodSkinned Valiameth-Draga, the first-born son of the latest generation of the Valiameth-Draga family. On top of the highest peak of the Spine of the World Mountains, he was born on what would be the coldest night in three centuries, the very fact he survived such a harsh birth was considered an …

by Gina Guerra I am the ideal woman.     “What a delight to teach!”     “You can just tell she’ll grow up to be a beauty!”     “Such a sweet, reserved young lady.”     “So good at cooking already? You’ll make someone a happy husband someday.”     A delight to teach because I do as …

by Mackenzie Cartier You look around the desolate tube station. No one, as usual. You scan the emptiness trying to find someone to talk to as the cold seeps into your bones causing you to shiver. Loneliness invades your mind, reminding you how, silenced, you are forced to hide behind a polite smile while your …

by MJ Bujold I stood back and scanned the beach left and right. There were lots of cute girls there on that hot July morning, in 1967, but I didn’t want to be there. My cousin Dickie was turning 16 and the family was holding a beach party. My 16th was next month and I only agreed …

by Erika “Joy” Jepsen My head spun as I pulled the heavy curtains shut.   I can’t keep doing this to myself, not if I want to survive.   I pressed my hands hard against my midsection, trying to push away the hunger pains.  I must have lost a lot of weight; it’s been almost a week …

By M J Bujold     Glenn shifted the weight of a Nattie Light 12 pack from his right arm to his left.  He was tired as an old horse and dirty as a mud pit pig. He looked down at his work boots caked with soil from the work site, dried mud dusted the …

By Karie Ociepka, One Lux Designs

by Raymond Anganes Once upon a time in the dead of a warm night in July, four boys sat around a campfire in a graveyard at the edge of town. The breeze threw patterns into the tongues of fire, and the shadows of the night danced across the skinniest boy’s face. He was the haunted …

by Robert M. Mendonsa ‘The leaves’, she said. ‘The leaves are changing.’ Dylan woke to the droning hum of a vacuum cleaner. It resounded from the other side of his bedroom door, originating from the living room of his campus apartment. He crunched a pillow over his ears, tempted to throw the pillow into the …

MJ Bujold It was early July,1967. I was turning thirteen in eight days. I was getting my ears pierced for my birthday. My mom said I would be almost a woman and I would be expected to behave like a lady from then on. No more climbing trees or exploring expeditions in the woods behind …

Carcarus By Samantha Lynch        Victoria Ave was like a siren song in the afternoon light. She pulled down the street and could not be more thankful. After forty five minutes of traffic Josie was fed up. It had been bumper to bumper from Prexiam Knowledge Publishing to Bartimus Elementary School. On any other day, …

Affirmations By Mark Andrews   Characters Penny: Loud, Excited, Emotional & Lively Songbird, Awkward. Kenny: Aged, Hardened Carpenter, Knowing. Setting: The first constructed scene is of a school performing arts classroom. Simple, and open. Act I, Scene 1 (Carpenter on stage frames a small wall. He drives the last nail and prepares to stand it …

There Was Once a Man Who Was Also a Bear By Kate McCadden        The frozen wind cut through the trees, carrying with it the echoed howls of wolves in the distant darkness, the night that the boy was born.      Usually, the boy was just a normal boy. He would laugh and play in the …

The Serpent’s Kiss By Angelina Pino        Taylor jumped back when it was only Caleb to open the door for her. Her fist nearly clonked into his head. Lea had said she might end her shift early tonight and go home right after. Sorry to cut the sleepover short, she had said, but Taylor understood. …

Into The Future By Samantha Pirog        “You volunteered to do what?” Mom’s shrill voice filled the kitchen, piercing my ears. Wincing, I took a deep breath. My eyes quickly scanned the faces surrounding me at the table to see how the rest were taking the news.      On my right, Dad’s eyes bulged. His mouth …

Sure Title By Edwin Chamba   Characters John Smith: a high school teacher who works a second job in the summer as a manager. Tim Ives: a high school student who likes math and reading. Applicant 9: one of the ten applicants who are being interviewed today. Citizen 227377: License Number: S28452164, Status: Dependent Worker …

The Peculiar Case of Jib Tompkins By Boyd Mason               Jib Tompkins was not a nice man. This was the consensus of nearly the entire village of Wintershed, Vermont. Though no one really knew why. He was shunned by all. When the scruffy old hermit came down from the hills to do his monthly …

A Year to You By Dana Shahar               Your January is the pair of pilling wool mittens into which you tuck your pink-tipped fingers. It is the New Year’s fireworks show you missed because you were stuck in traffic at the stroke of midnight. It is the frostbitten branches glazing telephone wires, the naked …

Due Process By Lubica Kotevski   August 27th, 1998             It was blazing. Scorching, really.             “What is it this time?” asked a short, slightly overweight woman from the crowd. She wasn’t genuinely directing her question at anyone but rather just adding chatter to the already heavy crowd.  The blockade of blue-lighted police cars lit …

By: Claire Destroismaison I watched her pull out an American Spirit from her blue Versace purse. She looked exceptionally well today. Long, flowy, purple skirt, black ballet flats, with red and purple bangles dangling from her perfect wrists. Her red manicure still looked fresh from the week before. Every morning same time, 9:05 a.m., she’d …

By Jada Diaz It was bright spring day at John Buroughs High School. All was normal. The Cliques were all in perfect harmony. The Seven Quarter War between the Drama Club and the Cheerleaders had finally come to a truce, and no one had to worry about taking sides or alliances. Until The Announcement was …

By Michael A Roccia III I hate hospitals, they are so cold.  Not the temperature, I could care less about that, it’s the feeling.  White walls, white floors and even white counters that the nurses hide behind.  I stand outside my little girl’s room with only my umbrella, a stuffed rabbit and a lily in …

By Rose Titus   I know it’s strange to just say it like this, but Joe was evil.  I don’t mean that he was messed up, or disturbed, or anything like that.  He was evil.  Really.  Joe was evil.  It’s true.  I know what evil looks like.  Let me tell you this.  Evil is good …

By Michael A Roccia III   I stand in my brother’s room watching him sleep. I call him my baby brother, but he really isn’t an infant anymore. He is thirteen now, his birthday was actually just a few days ago. It’s hard to believe how fast he is growing up, not that I am …

By Tricia Nindel   My sister Julie floored the gas as I slid Frampton Comes Alive into opening of the eight track player. The speakers in her Mustang flooded the car with the mellow music, perfect for the sultry afternoon. As we drove down the expressway headed toward Nantasket Beach to see her boyfriend’s band, …

  BEWARE “CLOWN”: based on actual events   By Dan Graffeo   I didn’t come home from war to deal with this. Tawny and I had an argument. She wanted us to take Ryan to the circus and I forbid it. She got tickets while I was overseas and assumed I wouldn’t think anything of …