There isn’t a code to yell when a 12-year-old tries to commit suicide in his cell. You just yell help.
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Sara Conjures The Devil by Leyna Krow
Sara wished her brother dead. She wished old Pastor Brookes dead as well.
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The Height of My Apex by Alex Sagona
Someone shit in the men’s sauna again, and now the entirety of Apex Fitness smells like the aftermath of a ruptured septic tank.
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He Was a Friend of Mine by Munib Khan
Murad’s gaze meets Saad’s. Two dozen feet between them. There is no hatred in Murad’s eyes, only pity and kindness, if boys can possess pity and kindness, certainly not desire, and it is not an unforgiving gaze, but that is how Saad will remember it later. He will remember it often, at will, give himself shivers, like reciting a beloved poem. It was love, he will say.
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Love Nest by Marshall Howell
Lynn met me at the airport, and we took a yellow taxi into Boston and pulled up in front of this dilapidated building on Boylston Street and walked up five flights of stairs. She put a key in the lock and opened the door. “How do you like it?” I put my hands in my pockets so she couldn’t see them trembling and gazed into the tiny room.
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How the Rain Remembers by Shebana Coelho
My curls return in rain and in sudden wind. They returned that day, on the beach, standing beside a sand wall, scooped out by wind. We were on vacation, him from his regular self, and me from the self that pretended he was truly like this.
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Mermaid IPA by Linzy Garcia
I remember even the most beautiful, mystical things still die.
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Hard Salami by Kent Kosack
How am I supposed to know where here is? How does anyone?
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A Brief Affair by Thomas Cardamone
Every weekday at four PM, a small piece of Paulita Paulo died and went to heaven.
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The Salesman by Terek Hopkins
In two days, Roger turns twenty-seven. But Roger doesn’t want to turn twenty-seven. He’s more afraid of it, of turning twenty-seven, than he’s ever been of anything in his whole life.
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Ape Destiny by Ethan Chatagnier
I’m at the high school to meet with Derrick’s counselor. I don’t know I’m about to say those words, don’t know what they’ll mean. I’m even mistaken about why I’m meeting Mr. Crenshaw, but there he is, waving me into the library.
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Resolution (in Twelve) by N. H. Azmi
He was her first in a list of firsts: first kiss, even though that should have been in high school; first hook up although that should have been in college. He was a second or third love though, but the first to ever leave her imagination and take root in reality
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The Inspired Painting by Derek Updegraff
Once a person looked down from a cloud, and she thought to another person…
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Somersault by Mally Zelaya
I once got lost in a forest at the bottom of the sea. That’s what I told Suzanne, my therapist, but she didn’t believe me. She gave me that look of hers which always made me feel like a little girl, a lying little girl, a bad little lying girl in need of a scolding. “Seriously,” I said, retreating into the protective breast of her couch. “It’s true.”
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Stark Naked Night by Kylie Whitehead
The old woman’s stark nakedness shone brightly, and juxtaposed against the tarmac. She looked just like the moon in the night sky. But just as she was a reflection of all that was above, she was also a reflection of all that was below, all that came before and all that would come after. She was the sky and the ground, the heavens and the underworld. She was everything. She was the first person I had seen in weeks.
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Great American Pastime by Dan Pinkerton
Though Mercer had good speed at the leadoff spot, he struck out often and was a liability in the field, so it shocked no one when Coach Burgus benched him. Well, almost no one. His father leapt from his chair. He was one of those middle-aged hipsters with the soul patch and visor and frosted tips. His wraparound shades, synthetic tan, and artsy tattoos had all been ordered from some catalog of cool. That’s what we figured, anyway, those of us without access to any such catalog.
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there are 156 women in the courtroom and at least a 100 more outside and we will make space for them all, yes, we will by Aliceanna Stopher
At the end of the path are the woods, which, of course, are necessary. The dirt path smells of cedar, pencil shavings, tired beginnings. When the red-hooded girl-child begins her journey she walks in halting steps, fearful of scuffing her church shoes. Mama said be careful, mama said keep tidy. One step, pause, bend at waist, swat at patent leather, unbend, step again.
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Nina by Hannah Pass
Eva and I puncture six holes in the lid. We give her a napkin for bedding and a torn page of a book. Reading material. Then, crumbles of the peanut butter protein bar she’d eat before long morning runs. We bring her along on our dinner date, lady’s night, so she won’t feel left out. Eva figures: we can fulfill Nina’s basic needs and still keep our distance. It’ll be easy!
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Know My Name by Caralyn Davis
As a boy, my father raised rabbits. “Raised” is a euphemism. The rabbits were meat. When customers wanted stew or fricassee, he slaughtered the rabbits with a hammer to the back of the head so they wouldn’t get scared and taint the succulent flesh with their screams. He did this after months of giving them food, water, a place to sleep, and the occasional pet when his fingers yearned for softness in his life—but no name, never a name. “Livestock aren’t meant to be friends,” he told me. “They exist to be used.”
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The Man and the Moon by Samantha Edmonds
He knew I’d be too large to pull down all at once, so he decided to take me in pieces. He arrived at the top of the mountain with rope and blade, bags and buckets. This close to me, he realized I was not as expected. I was more. He might need bigger buckets, better bags than the 99-cent Kroger reusables. He was surprised to feel my brightness radiated cold, not hot like light traditionally was, but he found he liked it better. I supposed it soothed the burning in his chest.
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