“Patrus” by Cameron Deslaurier LRR, May 6, 2023May 6, 2023 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 Continue Reading
“Rodeo Heat” by Gabrielle Esposito LRR, May 6, 2023May 6, 2023 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 Continue Reading
“Haunted Ghosts” by Katya Lyashenko LRR, June 18, 2022June 18, 2022 Second place winner for The Jennie Hackman Memorial Award for Short Fiction (2022) The thing about living long enough to see the aftermath (living longer than she ever thought she would), is that Josie doesn’t quite know what to do with herself anymore. There was always something before. Something to… Continue Reading
“Moon-Stain and Crawdad Eater” by Charlie M. Case LRR, June 8, 2022June 8, 2022 CW: Death, Domestic abuse This is what is most important: the ache in scraped knees. The crawdads scuttling among river rocks. The groan of pipes in your cracked kitchen sink. Night stealing hours. Ponds like meters-wide tide pools. Mud stealing hours. The leak in your bedroom ceiling, the water damage… Continue Reading
“Knell Inevitable” by Charlie M. Case LRR, June 8, 2022June 8, 2022 CW: Illness, Death It came to me on the sixth night of my sickness, when the suffering had ceased to be new. I had been lulled into those familiar throes which, now that I was accustomed to them, deceived me into thinking that they were kinder. In came something—and I… Continue Reading
“The Ostrava Line” by Liam Kelsey LRR, June 4, 2022June 4, 2022 Contest winner for The Long River Review Graduate Award (2022) “What would you like to know about yourself?” This was what my neighbor asked me when I took my seat. He was wearing a black suit and had a thick laptop resting on his thighs. I asked him what he… Continue Reading
Constance By Jeremiah Dennehy (2017) LRR, July 9, 2017July 4, 2017 The Jennie Hackman Memorial Prize for Fiction, Third Place (2017) I don’t take the school bus, I don’t drive, and because mom doesn’t get home from work until four most of the time, I don’t ask her for a ride. But if I take the 509 toward Whitney Avenue at… Continue Reading
Erythrophobia By Jameson Croteau (2017) LRR, July 8, 2017July 4, 2017 From out in the outfield dirt, the crack of the bat was the only indicator a ball was rising up before dive bombing, back through the crepuscular sky. Jimmy turned and chased the echo of the sound. Go foul… Go foul… The ball, draped in a cloak of clouds, seemed… Continue Reading
Crumbling Walls By Kristina Reardon (2017) LRR, July 6, 2017July 4, 2017 Long River Graduate Writing Award, Winner (2017) “Petra, she say there be bones,” my grandmother told me, pointing beyond me to the old castle on top of the hill. The frame of the old, Slavic structure was about as beautiful as a decaying tooth with jagged corners. A revolting brownness… Continue Reading
Angus By Sten Spinella (2017) LRR, July 5, 2017July 4, 2017 The Jennie Hackman Memorial Prize for Fiction, Second Place (2017) The girl I was seeing had this dog, a real fluffy fucker, whose name was Angus. It was her boyfriend’s dog. She was taking care of Angus because his owner was studying abroad in New Zealand for the semester. I… Continue Reading