My Forever Thing
By Paul O’Neill Birute Vijeikiene/ Shutterstock Rain drums the roof of my car as I try to unscramble my thoughts, get my game face on. I’m sitting in my car outside my house. Vodka oozes out my pores… Continue Reading
#ghost
Affordable Resurrection
By Nicole Walsh image by Athitat Shinagowin/ shutterstock “I’d kill for a cigarette,” Mindy said. “Then I’d resurrect his ass and charge him for the resurrection.” “Doesn’t work like that, Mindy.” She turned, flashing me a cheeky smile.… Continue Reading
Chuck-Will’s-Widow
By Peter Wakeman Schranz Matthew Jolley/ shuttersrtock The two of us — me and John, my cousin — we didn’t understand, at the time, that foreclosure was specifically bad. I was nine, John six I think. We lived… Continue Reading
A Cup of Tea
By R. P. Singletary Terablete/shutterstock The pale, reading man had never entered the bookshop. “Rich! Places for rich folk!” his grandmother had said every time they shuffled past the shop’s door on the way to market or church… Continue Reading
Footprints in the Snow
By Robert Pettus StockSnap/ Pixabay It was New Year’s Eve. It was colder than shit. The pavement was unobstructed, even though dry, powdery white snow floated peacefully down from the black, starry night sky. The Presbyterian Church was… Continue Reading
Sister, Dead and Dearest
By A. Morgan-Penn Image by kittirat roekburi A prickle of fear runs down my spine as I comb through the knotted ends of my hair. It’s gonna happen tonight. I flatten the front of my floral dress, hands… Continue Reading
Significant Others
By Cody Plepel On the north side of Chicago, underneath an old brick three-flat, there was a room that didn’t belong. It went unnoticed for decades; tenant after tenant assumed it was something it was not or never… Continue Reading
Walter
By A. Elizabeth Herting Image by Raland The coffee was lukewarm. Tepid, rotgut diner swill. The waitress set it down in front of him in an old chipped mug. She was good-sized, just on the north side-of-young with… Continue Reading