literary fiction

1 day ago2 min read

"Broken Clock" by Zary Fekete

It’s a Seiko wall model hung in the middle of the waiting room. The battery is still working, but the second hand is stuck. It jitters in...

Nov 1722 min read

literary short fiction

"Finding Serenity" by Micah Muldowney

She looks spent. The coldness of the light has saturated her skin and her eyes and even her hair. They look dull and flat and hard like...

Oct 1325 min read

literary fiction

"Fledgling" by Mat Lebowitz

It was her, Clara Hart. It had been nearly fifteen years since I had seen her, but the name returned with the impact of a reckoning. She...

"Cinnamon Toast Crunch Niblings" by T.L. Tomljanovic

Sep 304 min read

literary fiction

"Cinnamon Toast Crunch Niblings" by T.L. Tomljanovic

Koltyn liked Cinnamon Toast Crunch best. It turned him into a giant, grinding dozens of tiny pieces of toast between his teeth, savoring...

Sep 3014 min read

literary fiction

"The Ludologist" by Jack Whelan

Lewis Vern was a self-proclaimed ludologist—that is, he claimed to know all things games. To his credit, he had mastered four different...

"The Festa of Santa Marija" by Sara Sheldrake

Sep 314 min read

literary short fiction

"The Festa of Santa Marija" by Sara Sheldrake

On a breathless night in Malta, light fragmented by bedroom shutters pries Maria’s eyes open. She leaves her empty bed. The church bells...

Aug 187 min read

literary short fiction

"My Clawfoot Tub" by Sloan Sprau

I’ve figured out that if I run the bath for 10 minutes on full heat and two minutes ice-cold, the water in my clawfoot tub will reach the...

"Thirty Broken Birds" by Michelle R. Brady

Aug 414 min read

literary fiction

"Thirty Broken Birds" by Michelle R. Brady

I. Quest Before what happened to Christine, before arriving in Iraq, before even leaving Nebraska, all we knew for sure was that there...

Jul 217 min read

literary fiction

"Day of Connection" by Joey Hedger

There were plans for a party at Ava’s place to celebrate the moment when the continents would converge, when land would finally touch...

"The Microwave Clock is Unreliable" by Richard A Shury

Jul 74 min read

literary short fiction

"The Microwave Clock is Unreliable" by Richard A Shury

There’s nothing I’m more sick of than the reliable tick of my grandmother’s grandfather clock, standing watch as it does over a living...

Jun 2356 min read

literary fiction

"Rose of Sterling" by Gary Campanella

Part 1: Down by the Lake "Hey Tin Man, you think I could walk across that lake?" "I don't think the ice is thick enough, Rose." "No....

"Skinnymalink Melodeonlegs Big Banana Feet" by Sophie Thompson

Jun 92 min read

literary short fiction

"Skinnymalink Melodeonlegs Big Banana Feet" by Sophie Thompson

I’ll never forget his face, wide open to the harsh light of the screen, drinkin’ it all in. At’s why it happened, Da said. He was all...

May 2713 min read

literary fiction

"Mr. Nakamura" by M.E. Proctor

We are, by nature, oddballs. Call us weird, extraordinary, freaky. Monsters. I will not dispute or argue the label. From the perspective...

May 125 min read

literary fiction

"Try Again" by Brian Greene

Claire was Chris’s new roommate. Chris was after me to try dating her. Chris and I had been friends for about 12 years by then. We were...

May 412 min read

literary short fiction

"The God Hole" by Dave McNamara

Trixie had been writing for 10 years before she finally got published. It was a long slog, with dozens and dozens of bad short stories, a...

Feb 1811 min read

literary short fiction

"From the Rubble" by M.E. Proctor

My friend reminded me of a house fallen in disrepair. The slanting roof, the peeling paint, the gutters hanging loose. It can take ten...

"How to get safely home from Taronga Zoo" by Elisa Dominique Rivera

Feb 42 min read

literary fiction

"How to get safely home from Taronga Zoo" by Elisa Dominique Rivera

First, don’t even be at the zoo during a forecasted storm even though your mum guilted you into taking your Tita, her not-so-favourite...

"Poseidon has a Party and Wakes Hungover" by Joyce Bingham

Feb 43 min read

literary fiction

"Poseidon has a Party and Wakes Hungover" by Joyce Bingham

The dried crunch of seaweed brought a crowd of swarming flies, the buzzing intermingled with gull calls. The tang of salt and iodine...

Feb 464 min read

literary fiction

"The Devil's Breath" by Wade Pavlick

Excerpt from letter dated January 13, 1957: … I’ve been haunted from the moment I arrived in this place. It’s different here, away from...

"The Ruins at Quevdo" by L. A. Ballesteros Gentile

Jan 73 min read

literary fiction

"The Ruins at Quevdo" by L. A. Ballesteros Gentile

In the center of Old Town, where the ruins of Quevdo are located, there’s a top that’s been spinning for as long as anyone can remember....