The Dispensary

Delvon T. MattinglyApril 3, 2020

I told Lamar to call me when we hit quota. I wanted to hear the excitement in his voice, that of which I have not heard in over a decade—when all we did was try...

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Helen Sullivan meets Otto von Bismarck on Flight AA 4034 from Chicago to Des Moines

Mark DoyleMarch 28, 2020

-- Do you object to my annexing the middle seat? -- I’m sorry? -- They’ve just closed the cabin doors, so I thought I might spread myself out into the mid...

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The Memory of You

Isabelle CorreaMarch 5, 2020

The most interesting thing about me is that I’m famous for manslaughter, which in the end, was called something else, something less gory than slaughter, though...

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Until Next Year

Elliot HarperMarch 4, 2020

The laminated menu said that it had been open since 1986. The 18th of December to be exact. It seems a strange date to open up an Italian restaurant in a North ...

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Honeycomb

Abigail StewartMarch 4, 2020

Emma’s beehives were at the very back of her property. She’d bought this house specifically because it landed strategically outside of relevant county lines and...

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Watershed

Josh OlivierMarch 2, 2020

We were standing in our living room, daylight fading through the blinds, when Em started telling me that our relationship was over—completely over. That the spa...

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Borrowed Style

Miranda FormanFebruary 28, 2020

Cassie shook her head back and forth real slow, her chin drawn up and pressing her lips into a line, like I’d told her my dog died instead of just pulling down ...

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TO THE STRANGER WHO HAS LOVED YOU— AFTER WATCHING MARRIAGE STORY

Cathy AllmanFebruary 26, 2020

She had wrapped her naked body in the thin, blue hospital gown. After recording her weight, blood pressure, and heart rate, the nurse asked, “Are you sexually a...

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B.J. Novak and Other Flashbacks

Kim WeldinFebruary 23, 2020

One night I was looking at an author’s Instagram account and noticed that B.J. Novak followed her. I remembered that he was a writer, too. Then I remembered ...

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Home Video

Daisuke ShenFebruary 17, 2020

When it was time to kill Peter again I was sitting on the porch eating tapioca pudding. “Here,” Minnow said, and threw me a shotgun. She was holding a tripod...

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Apology in Seven Movements

Jonah HowellFebruary 10, 2020

Long Arm of the Law Alphonse whiteknuckled the screen door’s frame to steady himself, and he jutted his bearded chin at Marguerite. “Hit me harder.” ...

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Selfie Stick

Phillip Scott MandelFebruary 5, 2020

Brad matriculated into our writing program two weeks into March, which was unusual—like everything else about him. He purported to concentrate in creative nonfi...

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Pillow Talk

Lauren HaynesFebruary 3, 2020

I was leaving, and you knew it. You saw my bag, too heavy for the occasion, slumped on the chair next to me. You talked to them, to her, to everyone but me, eac...

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I’m listening to Elon Musk’s new EDM track in my bathroom through headphones, feeling scared but also compelled to dance.

Zach MarcumFebruary 2, 2020

Now I’m imagining Elon knocks on the door. He’s by himself. His face is plasticy—vaguely botoxed and expressionless. It’s impossible to guess his age by his app...

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On the Respective Limitations of Physical and Virtual Memory

Jefferson LeeJanuary 18, 2020

They were coming to the end of the folded paper stars that Susan had used to pack her memories. She chose one, flicking a loose corner back and forth with her n...

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DIY Electroconvulsive Therapy

Stephen WackJanuary 6, 2020

He’s the guy who can get the job done. “Whatever it may be, however tall an order,” he says, “I’m your man.” She meets him in the alleyway behind her work du...

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Picnic at Wild Orchid Meadow

F. E. ClarkDecember 26, 2019

He steers his jeep into town late one mist wreathed night when the full seed moon is muffled by cloud, a stranger whose long-gone mother told him he was a child...

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Trees

Andrew TranDecember 23, 2019

I wiped my face with a paper towel to remove the streaks and spots of foundation, mascara, and lipstick. I was ten years old, helping my brother, Victor, plant ...

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Janine

Janelle BassettDecember 13, 2019

My friend’s mother is coming to pick me up for a sleepover so I need to quickly disguise who I really am. I spritz myself with grapefruit-lime body spray to mas...

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Let Christmas Grow Up

Laura ArciniegaDecember 12, 2019

On December 8, Santa Claus realized that it hadn’t snowed yet in any of the mountain ranges around the Inland Empire. Mount San Antonio, Mount Gorgonio, Mount S...

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A Brief History of the ’80s Action Figure Soccer League

Greg OldfieldDecember 9, 2019

We used to play soccer every day. In the beginning, Yoda encouraged us to try different surfaces like the Brazilians and pelada. Carpet in the living room, h...

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You and Your Depression

Sara LippmannDecember 4, 2019

As a mother, there is little option. You drag your depression everywhere. You can’t not show, and it’s not something to leave at home like a fish or cat. Your d...

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Obscure Disco

Laurel ShimasakiDecember 3, 2019

Come dance. For the love of Caitlyn. She is paying this wedding DJ money, too much money for disco songs nobody recognizes. Not to trash disco. Years ago I wron...

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Lizzy from Lake Placid

Steve GergleyNovember 26, 2019

The day after my thirty-fourth birthday, I had a dream about Lana Del Rey. In the dream me and Lana were sitting on a California beach at midnight, smoking weed...

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The Parking Spot: A Modern Horror Story

Caleb LalinskyNovember 11, 2019

“I don’t know where we’re going to park,” he says as they drive past the apartment. It is the first thing either of them has said the entire ride home. “Not at ...

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Thank God It’s Friday

Sahana AhmedNovember 11, 2019

6:31 AM Facebook wants to know me better. “Decide what happens to your account after you pass away.” Choose a friend. Your Legacy Contact. Too much pressu...

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The List

Leland CheukNovember 7, 2019

So much Pierre had yet to do despite twenty-eight years on this planet. The to-dos came to him in threes (usually after his morning bowel movement). He didn’...

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Curfew

Olivia GunningNovember 4, 2019

It was the time the dustcarts stopped coming and the city was on its knees. We both arrived with posies. Kenzi held rosemary, a hardy aromatic, while I had w...

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But why ALEX?

Elliot HarperOctober 29, 2019

I order my usual. A tall latte with milk. Real boring, but I never really got into all these options. I give the guy with the vacant eyes my order. He asks for ...

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Ghost Vehicle

Abigail StewartOctober 25, 2019

  He drooped in the heat like a child’s discarded ice pop. Leaning against the metal railing of an outer downtown bus stop, he blocked a fading advertis...

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