telephone booth beside brown wall during nighttime

Stories No. 90 – Feng Gooi

A stranger called and I picked up my phone.

“Hello, how are you doing today?” said the voice from the other end. The voice belonged to a woman, an older woman. It was deep and luxurious, a perfect balance of grace and authority. Just from that simple hello, I could hear the weight of experience, a lifetime of training in forming the perfect first impression. 

Continue reading Stories No. 90 – Feng Gooi

brown string instrument selective focus photography

Stories No. 89 – Jeanne Althouse

Lena was raised on violin lessons and minimal parental supervision. Maestro Ludwig, her first violin teacher, was spiritually her only family. After early morning lessons, before she went off to school, they liked to relax together on the cool sheets of his unmade bed in his private studio in the Hyatt Regency, her violin lying between them. They smelled plumeria and coconut-scented sunscreen lotion from Kaanapali Beach through the one open window. Continue reading Stories No. 89 – Jeanne Althouse

nature bird water animal

Flash No. 23 – Rich Ives

I cannot rehearse the pathways of smoke, but I spend my entire life on the journey, my one particular part, small, wingless, and flattened. You would not guess it when meeting me alone and my host can be nearly gone, emaciated. I place my eggs upon her hair. But there’s a second host and more further south. I could migrate and release my benefactor. I could trade in my habitat. But in this way deceptive birds might find me sailing. Continue reading Flash No. 23 – Rich Ives

photo of multicolored lamp decor

Stories No. 88 – Elinol López

They offered me a job at the clinic near my house, and I took It because I had to keep up with rent while mami visited home country to nurse her mama for three months. I did not mind that It was a graveyard shift since the place was just a few bus stops away. My task was to receive packages and log their arrival in a binder. The delivery men wore khaki overalls and never spoke. As of now, those are the facts I can recall.              Continue reading Stories No. 88 – Elinol López

spotted cows on pasture in summertime Sticky post

Flash No. 22 – Richard Krause

Penn State University would periodically send down these studies on dairy cows. The farmers would have to implement them whether they liked it or not, but it was always the cause of ridicule, of mockery, that the scientists at Penn State hadn’t gotten close to the udders of a single cow, had never been kicked by one, never saw the mastitis their directives were meant to clear up,… Continue reading Flash No. 22 – Richard Krause

illustration of orange sedan Sticky post

Stories No. 85 – Mario Duarte

“Monkeys, time to go!” Papi yells in his firm but gravelly voice. I lag behind at the end of the K-Mart checkout counter, eyeing the Mars candy bars. Aleta, my younger sister, kicks my heels. I trudge forward almost bumping into a white woman pushing a cart who suddenly stops after hearing Papi. Her lips stretch into a worldwide oval, ruby red lipstick smeared on her cigarette-stained teeth.  Continue reading Stories No. 85 – Mario Duarte

low angle photo of four high rise curtain wall buildings under white clouds and blue sky Sticky post

Poetry No. 61 – Sarah Payne

Three Poems by Sarah Payne Dead Hildegard In the world of my body’s time, to be illuminated meant to be lighted by fire only The candle of the sun igniting and extinguishing each day: how perpetual these orbs You began to go astray when you spoke your first lie against what you knew O body, said the light Say these things now Hildegard on the … Continue reading Poetry No. 61 – Sarah Payne

black classic car inside the garage

Community No. 65

In today’s Community, we are honored to re-introduce prose and poetry by Andrew Rihn, Ben Umayam, and Chris Vola. Andrew Rihn The Pugilist #15: Rocky and Catholic Meatmaking “I’ve seen the movie Rocky, I don’t know, like a hundred times. (OK not really, but still a lot.) Despite the repeated viewings, there are two scenes I always misremember…” Into the VoidNovember 15, 2020 ———————- The Pugilist #18: … Continue reading Community No. 65

brown wooden dock

Community No. 64

In today’s Community, we are honored to re-introduce prose and poetry by Christie Cochrell and Alex Wells Shapiro. Christie Cochrell Death in Tesuque “My father and I left Tesuque on Monday as soon as it got light. So when they found the body in the swimming pool later that morning, strangled and ingloriously dead, they guessed we’d had something to do with it…” Fiction on … Continue reading Community No. 64

aerial photography of snow covered trees

Community No. 63

In today’s Community, we are honored to re-introduce poetry and prose by Juan Wynn, Jr. and Jeanne Althouse. Juan Wynn, Jr. For All the Half-Children “The first time someone referred to you as my half-brother…” ———————- Portrait of Enduring Love as a Seasonal Haircut “Two years ago, my mother tradedthick ropes of kite string dreadsfor an afro cloud of frost…” ———————- When You Hum, I’m … Continue reading Community No. 63