By Charlie M. Case Winner of The Jennie Hackman Memorial Prize for Short Fiction (1st) Some kind of sweet thing takes hold of you in the late summer. It’s not much. You take it for nostalgia—standing in the pick-your-own orchard, your family and best friend flitting about selecting perfect…
Category: Fiction
The Cardinal Girl
By Sarah Kelly Winner of The Edward R. and Frances Schreiber Collins Literary Awards (Prose) There was a cardinal who used to perch in the ash tree next to my apartment building. I could look out my window in the morning and see it as I made another ration of…
First Motel
By Krista Mitchell Winner of The Jennie Hackman Memorial Prize for Short Fiction (3rd Place) The First Motel Off the Highway Bethlehem, NH. August 1956. She held a hand to her forehead to shield her bloodshot eyes as she turned off the highway, the windshield glittering with flecks of…
“Chasing Midnight” by Sarah Moynihan
Midnight is such a tantalizing hour, the birth of a new day, the next twenty-four hours blank pages intended to be filled. An hour associated with hope; it’s crazy how easily that same hope can come crashing down in a single minute
“Toys in a Claw Machine” by Connor Gustafson
As I sip my grimy, soiled, defiled, dirty spiced chai with oat milk, a middle-aged couple sitting at the windowsill scratches scratch-off tickets. We are in a New Haven cafe’s conservatory with used books in two of the four walls that are not glass. I surmise their life story based on their outfits
“Hairpiece” by Noah Praver
I’ve been a writer for 25 years and haven’t finished a single book yet. I write all day, every day, and have practically nothing to show for it. I don’t really know why I write, although I surely do enjoy it; all I know for sure is that I haven’t made a penny from what I’ve written so far
“Jonas & Nadia” by Pascale Joachim
I hear barking coming from inside the house as I help my parents unload our minivan in the already packed driveway. It sounds like Nella got big. I toss my backpack over my shoulder and bend to lift my two duffle bags. Frustrated because I’ll have to make two trips to bring everything inside, I curse myself for overpacking. Again
“The Mountain, the Lake, and Rain” by Orion Emerick
My great-aunt Rose told me stars were air holes poked in the top of a container that huge aliens were keeping us in, like children trapping fireflies. She said we got fireworks when the massive aliens flicked ash from their cigarettes. She wove wonderful delusions to explain the beauty of the world
“Patrus” by Cameron Deslaurier
Per the Delta-Deviance Articles, Article I, Section 4, citizens of Atollis must report all sightings of unregistered Deltas to the DATA within 24 hours on penalty of jail time. If a citizen has reasonable suspicion that an individual is an unregistered Delta, they are urged to leave an anonymous tip at a DATA precinct
“Rodeo Heat” by Gabrielle Esposito
You’re sitting on hot metal stands wondering how you got here. Not the physical here of Dry Cactus Rodeo Arena or Benson, Arizona, but your path in life—31 and married, wearing long sleeves and jeans in 115-degree rodeo heat because you’re trying to cover up the abuse-bruises on your body
