Down Stinson Beach

Wilson KoewingJune 18, 2021

Stinson Beach appeared below us out of a tight curve on Highway 1. For miles we’d watched the Pacific hammer the cliffs and the jagged rocks that reached out of...

Fiction0 Comments

Marvin’s Last Day

D.T. RobbinsJune 17, 2021

Marvin Hyer stood in the corner of his seventh-floor office, staring out across the metropolis he had witnessed evolve over the past twenty years. The city buzz...

Fiction0 Comments

Schnoz or Bar with Infinite Seinfelds

Carleton WhaleyJune 16, 2021

A man walks into a bar. Says ‘Ow.’ Ba-dum-tss, cue laughter. No, a man walks into a bar. Says ‘Who put that there?’ No, not that either. The man apologize...

Fiction0 Comments

Thank You, Madame Clara

Steve GergleyJune 10, 2021

Hey Madame Clara, it’s so great to talk to you again! I’m not sure if you remember me, but I’m Lightning the Interdimensional Cheetah, and a few weeks ago I cal...

Fiction0 Comments

People Like Gray Blotches

Teddy BurnetteJune 9, 2021

He would rather get high than go see his dad. He hated this. That he didn’t even like hard enough drugs to justify a decision like this, that somehow it was laz...

Fiction0 Comments

Dream Story

Tim FrankJune 8, 2021

Daniel led a dreary life, entering data into a computer at a small publishing company and coming home to a mother who suffered from a serious form of dementia, ...

Fiction0 Comments

Ethan Marino

Emily CostaJune 7, 2021

The email said OPEN IF YOU WANT TO SEE ETHAN MARINO’S DICK and I did, so I opened it. It was from Melissa, marked urgent. Inside it said: I know you haven’t bee...

FictionUncategorized1 Comment

The Park

Nadya AgrawalJune 7, 2021

She is staring at my dog taking a shit. I can see her lip curling as she looks on, assessing the damage, the viscosity, and fall speed. I watch her while she ga...

Fiction0 Comments

In Lieu of Flowers

Dylan A. SmithJune 3, 2021

Believe it when again I tell you, little heart, A mother’s fears are as deep waters. But first: I spy ladybirds in your window. What luck. Remember with m...

Fiction0 Comments

Opening

Jason AriasMay 19, 2021

Rachel is wearing herring bone patterned red and yellow yoga pants, a black t-shirt with Dolly Parton’s smiling face on it, and a faded headband (the kind Richa...

Fiction0 Comments

Food Pyramid

Greg TebbanoMay 18, 2021

Where we work is not a co-op. Privately owned, we are taught to say. All of us owned privately for this wage or that salary, a number we hide like an embarrassi...

Fiction0 Comments

Digital burnout

Selena CotteMay 13, 2021

It was a mindless Thursday, and every object had been shouting at Petunia: “Find purpose,” “Do something more with your life.” She couldn’t sit down for two min...

Fiction0 Comments

The Sweetheart Murder Ballad Room

E. C. WatsonMay 10, 2021

It’s hard for Harrison to see why anyone would break into Miller’s Folk Music Museum. Even during opening hours, the one-room roadside attraction has almost no ...

Fiction0 Comments

IN THE DARK ROOM

Claudia LundahlMay 6, 2021

Alice is at Jane’s house. They’re stretched out on the floor on their stomachs with their faces propped up in their palms. They’re watching the movie Mulholland...

Fiction0 Comments

Keeping Warm

Logan CoxApril 28, 2021

Sweet pea, put on your coat, it’s cold out.” “Cold? How cold?” “It’s 28 degrees.” My daughter looked at me, confused. I rolled my eyes at myself for th...

Fiction0 Comments

Do You Like Death Metal?

Steve GergleyApril 27, 2021

A few weeks after me and Kyoko got back together for the second time, we went to the wedding for one of her friends from work. Kyoko hadn’t put her own wedding ...

Fiction0 Comments

The Town

Keegan SwensonApril 27, 2021

When we arrived in the town everyone looked at us like we were little objects they could tame with their eyes. In those days, we craved approval like a dog want...

Fiction0 Comments

The Same as Cherry

Brendan SheehanApril 21, 2021

We’re sitting cross-legged on the balcony, messing with the clippers on loan from the clinic. A rusty sunset eases its way out of gunmetal sky. There’s a new lo...

Fiction0 Comments

Four Nights in the Apology Hotel

Joy GuoApril 19, 2021

Sorry, I’m not trying to be difficult, I say, boarding myself up in the apology. It’s tight, with pointy corners and a low-sloped ceiling, but I manage, wadding...

Fiction0 Comments

Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine Prepares to Attack Local Man for Talking Smack

Jesse PradoApril 16, 2021

This foo said, "I have a strong immune system." That's laughable, but I’m taking that hella personally, to be quite honest. I just came on the scene too, and ...

Fiction0 Comments

Tulips

Rhiannon JonesApril 15, 2021

Elise hadn’t known Dylan well enough to call him a friend, exactly, but in the strange summer between the end of exams and Results Day, she had sometimes seen D...

Fiction0 Comments

Bomb Cyclone

Wilson KoewingApril 13, 2021

I woke up early to drive Rae to the airport. I’d gone back and forth about the Mardi Gras trip and finally decided to stay in Denver. We’d just moved into a new...

Fiction0 Comments

December Now

Myles ZaveloApril 12, 2021

I’m crying because I can’t sleep. I can’t sleep because I’m crying. I wish I could cry myself to sleep. I haven’t been sleeping well since graduation. I usua...

Fiction0 Comments

A Pool Table is Bad News

Dmitry SamarovMarch 4, 2021

An Excerpt from Old Style by Dmitry Samorav Matt and Laura come to the Blue Light every week. They order a pitcher of Old Style and play pool. The table is at ...

Fiction0 Comments

Bitches On Depop

Maria Santa PoggiMarch 3, 2021

She goes to the Salvation Army every Sunday in hopes of finding the next haul for her Depop shop. As of last month, her shop has been selected as a Top Seller o...

Fiction0 Comments

Acknowledgements

Zac SmithMarch 1, 2021

The stories in this collection would not be what they are today without input and support from Giacomo, Cavin, Mike, Graham, Alan, Bria, and some others I’m for...

Fiction0 Comments

There’s a McDonalds at the Bottom of the Sea 

SR SchulzFebruary 25, 2021

I know because I’ve been there. I woke up around three AM, hungry for a Big Mac. You see, by the sea, there are no McDonalds. There are only cedar shake houses ...

Fiction0 Comments

Summer Rental

Christina KappFebruary 24, 2021

Everyone comes to this house to die. My husband says I’m melodramatic, lots of people who come to this house stay alive just fine. Most hike the woods, enjoy th...

Fiction0 Comments

Nostalgia

James J. HatfieldFebruary 23, 2021

If I have any kind of hookup for anything I immediately tell people. Not because I want to help or coordinate an introduction but because I want it to be known ...

Fiction0 Comments

Run, Run, Run

Charlie WilliamsFebruary 22, 2021

Jimmy “the Baker” Reed, head detective of the NYPD, muscled through the maze of cops and yellow police tape surrounding him. Veterans and rookies alike avoided ...

Fiction0 Comments