Issue 17 / Spring 2019
Creative Nonfiction
A Catch in the Spokes
“Why should a fifteen-year-old girl be too afraid and ashamed to speak of an assault? Because she broke the rules—”
Ace in the Hole: Part II
“Finally, the left toilet door opens. A snot-nosed kid appears. My stomach growls a menacing and medieval groan. The kid looks at me as though I were Beelzebub and hightails it up the aisle.”
He Was My Dad”
“Daughters, particularly those of foreign-born fathers, seem to carry a gene of unconditional acceptance.”
Lock and Key
“The steady pulse of my heartbeat extended to Benjamin and the waiter and the tinkering of the silverware and the lights spelling out Wepler and the Metro and the cars until it was unrecognizable, until it was everyone’s.”
Fiction
Heading Home
“Do vocal cords still work after you die? I wonder. For how long do they keep vibrating?”
Running on About Uncle Leonard
“…Uncle Leonard was just as I remembered him from my girlhood: soft-spoken, wearing pressed pants and a pastel shirt, hair slicked back and clean-shaven, and smelling of Old Spice.”
Mine
“This is what she told us: She changed her jeans. Poured herself another cup of jo, and said to her mother, who was crying by that time, ‘How’d you get to be such a cliché?'”
Search, Assist, Dispose
“…Alright, that’s all I need from you. I’ll dispatch someone to your location to assist you. You said you wanted the premium package? Of course, that’s a great option. You have a nice day…”
Book Review
Ekphrasis Hybrid: Portrait of the Mermaid in the Mirror for Harriet Levin’s My Oceanography
“It’s a mirror of the artist, of the poet, and you.”