School Run

By Lucy Goldring
force children buggy bags through front door walk fast walk faster break into jog point out dog shit are we late mum no it’s fine just haven’t got time to spare…

Cubist Mother

By Michelle Ross
When I found my mother throwing dishes at the mortar wall behind our house, she said only, “I forgot these once belonged to my mother.”

My Lover the Fly

By Nan Wigington
Alright, so he throws up all over his food. So what? He doesn't have the enzymes to eat this crap.

Device

Kim Magowan
Waiting with my daughter for her dad, the concrete stoop burns my ass. Gabrielle plays with that crystal ball, her phone. “Do you have your bathing suit?” I ask.

Cigarettes

By Amy L. Bethke
We had one argument and that’s all. Cigarettes. Me telling you they stink, saying please brush your teeth so I can kiss you.

Crafts

B.A. Williams
Cora was crafty. She sewed patchwork quilts, baked cupcakes by the cartload, and crocheted like a woman possessed.

Why I Despise Christmas...

By Sarah Freligh
Because of the evergreen stink of gin I got a face full of whenever my daddy kissed me good night...

Of Mice and Hofmann

By Michael Michailidis
I could never forget those mice, the way they looked at me when I administered the compound, LSD-25.

First Winter After the ...

By JSP Jacobs
Breathless, she steadies herself against the front door, turns to survey all she’s done. A clear path shoveled through the snow.

English 101

By Amy J. Kirkwood
Red pen buzzing through and over her dream-laced stories, always. Are you sure about the use of ‘extra-ordinary’, here? (sp) exclaimed, exceptional.

Tarriers

By Marianne Rossant
We sang the mining shanty at chorus time: the sound of a drill going down down into the ground, the gritty grey of the miner’s faces docile for the sweet dark tea and the hardest of biscuits...

Names

By Santian Vataj
In the beginning, it was snuggle-butt and cuddle-squirrel, sugarcane, kitten breath and squishy-bear.

The Host

By Kathy Fish
One day, my indignation manifested as a ruptured appendix. I took it for indigestion because my indigestion had always been a manifestation of my dissatisfaction, from which I continued to suffer.

Rings

By Jeff Simonds
Until I took it off, I never realized how much I noticed my wedding band (chiming quietly against utensils, loosening its grip when I showered, orbiting my finger secretly throughout the day).

Hanover Park

By Chuck Augello
Their first date: an old plaid quilt spread over damp grass, pint-sized cartons of vegetable fried rice, a wayward kite trapped in the branches of an ancient elm tree.

Photo Story: A Family o...

By Elaine McKay
Dad enters stage left, and his voice is louder than the television. He points his syllables accusingly.

My Future Depends On It

By Miriam Ben-Yoseph
I was 15 when we left Romania. It was 1965. Ceausescu just came to power. At the airport they searched our luggage and peered into our bodies.

Photo Story: The Other ...

By Melissa Jacob
My daily constitutional treads a familiar story arc. Swerve raccoon-eyed adults being dragged along by relentless toddlers.

Underwater

By Sabrina Hicks
The silence in Sarah’s head had texture—waves licking sand, leaving foamy layers. She blinked in a doctor removing his mask.

Birds in Heat

By John Paul Martinez
There’s a stain on the left wing. She tells me she doesn’t know how it got there, but I know it’s from when she was younger.