She deals with it by swimming. Lap after lap in the cool early autumn evening, alone in the motel pool in her black one-piece suit with the straps that criss-cross in the back. After the tenth lap she holds her breath and sinks to the bottom, where little yellow lights cast rings of gold that [...]
Yearly Archives: 2006
Background by W. A. Smith
My dad and grandfather are together by the pond. The place is so big I can sneak up on anyone, stealing from an azalea bush over to the magnolia tree to gather a few of the hand grenades it manufactures, in case of enemy attack. Light and shade are everywhere. With the dry grass and [...]
Stars by Jeff Fearnside
Steve never meant to lose Linda in the forest. It was just that he was so excited to reach the high alpine lake that he ran up the mountain like a billy goat and left her behind. Once he turned to check on her while standing on the trunk of a massive Douglas fir that had uprooted over the trail, and she hadn’t been more than twenty yards back. He then scrambled up a steep incline littered with scree and in five minutes turned to look again. At least it seemed like five minutes. She wasn’t in sight, but as he was almost to the lake, he simply kept going and waited for her on a boulder by the edge of the clear water.When another five minutes or so passed and she still hadn’t arrived, he became worried and backtracked to find her about halfway up the steep section, where he offered her a hand. She pushed past him and after reaching the top fell against the nearest pine, gulping from her water bottle.
Hook by Michael P. Kardos
The whole class went fishing, last day of third grade. This was 1980. I remember the rods lined up along the blackboard like skinny kids hoping to be chosen for kickball. My father had lent me a light-weight black rod, spinning reel, three-pound-test line. Perfect for lake fishing. Red-and-white bobber, slices of Wonder Bread for [...]
Brown Jesus by Anna Green
Berta’s cure for everything is some old-school hip-hop, a bottle of Brass Monkey and a trip to the Cactus Club. Beneath the bleeding Jesus picture on the wall, the stereo is crackling out a song I can’t understand until Berta starts rapping along, party after party, same ol’ shit. She struts out of the bathroom [...]
Up on Two-Mile by David Hassler
On those spring afternoons in sixth grade’drowsy, slumped back at my desk, tracing the letters of Sue Ann Finger’s name carved on the underside of the writing surface’I spent my daydreams trying to visualize a map of the unknown between a girl’s legs. Attacked by a sudden boner, I’d slither in my chair and whisper [...]
First Frost by Verna Austen
David sat alone in his unheated car in front of his father’s house and stared at the Christmas lights that circled the front windows and wondered if his father knew that this was the day he was going to die. He had wrapped the gun inside a plastic bag and chucked it in the glove [...]
Savior by Cyn Kitchen
By the time the foul odor wafted to his nose, the treads of Paul’s boot were packed full. ‘Shit,’ he said dragging his foot in the grass. At least this time he’d noticed the mess before tracking it in the house. He continued mowing the side yard between his and the house to the north, [...]