Invagination by Daniel Arpie (2016) LRR, June 24, 2016June 16, 2017 “I would wake and then begin again, They would wake and then again begin.” * * * I know a Person who works at one of the McMahill genetic testing clinics in the Pacific Northwest. McMahill’s marketing has recently become very diffuse and not totally unhip: the new Senior… Continue Reading
An Important Distinction by Sten Spinella (2016) LRR, June 24, 2016June 16, 2017 This piece won third place in the Jennie Hackman Memorial Award for Short Fiction. When mom named me “Elan” she said it was to set me apart from the other boys. I’m certainly apart from the other boys, in that the other boys went to college, or the other boys… Continue Reading
Tiny by Emma Capron (2016) LRR, June 24, 2016June 16, 2017 She hears Jamie rustle in the bed beside her. He is deep within the throes of peaceful slumber, his breathing deep and regular. Tonight is the first night in months in which the gentle rise and fall of his chest has not lulled her into darkness, into the escape of… Continue Reading
Four Rules for Professional Thievery by Tyler Valzania (2016) LRR, June 24, 2016June 16, 2017 “Okay this first rule is the most important of all so listen up,” he said as he transferred a grease-stained wrench from his hands to mine. “The world is not fair, that’s a fact of life alright? So don’t get all high and mighty and act like it should be…. Continue Reading
They Didn’t Mean To by Carleton Whaley (2016) LRR, June 24, 2016June 16, 2017 The Old Man had a perpetual hunch to his shoulders, which was only accentuated as he chuckled at the cat sitting across from him. His shoulders rose and fell quickly, and at their height they nearly touched his bat-like ears, the same ears that the cat would swat at late… Continue Reading
Invisible by Máiréad Loschi (2016) LRR, June 24, 2016June 16, 2017 I don’t know all the technical jargon and stuff, but I can tell you what happened to me. I guess if you need to know all those medical details it’s in the chart. I mean you guys can read those charts, right? Maybe those regular doctors don’t put down the… Continue Reading
C. Buddingh’ – “The Hyena” – Translated from the Dutch By Matthew Ryan Shelton (2016) LRR, June 17, 2016June 17, 2017 Empirical Science has often shown a reputation up: the old Egyptians held him in high esteem, and Pliny held that the stone he carried in his eye, the hyena, laid under the tongue, would grant him sight, into the future. Alas, all he carries in his eye is a cockeyed… Continue Reading