Lifespan of the Fathead Minnow

Lifespan of the Fathead Minnow by Caitlin Rae Taylor When she takes the folded brochure out of her canvas bag, I know I’m fucked. The brochure, though creased and veined with white age lines, is a fire of blues and magentas, its color pieced together by chromic...

Elfland

Elfland by T.S. McAdams Men and dogs do foolish things. Bringing a stripper home to see the hole was a foolish thing. It was the girl from the billboard Donny liked, with soft-looking hair and bare shoulders cut off by the bottom of the sign. Donny used to drive by...

Dogs of War

Dogs of War by Jason Arment The trucks, three Humvees and a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP), trundled up the main access route and through the “gate”—guard posts on each side of the road. No one came out to signal us forward. When the lead Humvee approached the...

Feral

Feral by Christina Rivera Cogswell The surgeon finished his description of the triple heart bypass procedure, “So, do you have any questions?” “My family knows me for being tough,” my father said. “Don’t put any soft spots in my heart okay?” Not even six Valium could...

Five Percent

Five Percent by Jesse Salvo It was just getting to be near around the end of Q3 when I first became aware that I was shrinking. No, that is not quite right. Not shrinking as you understand it. Not shrinking as a natural part of the aging process—hunch of the back and...