Before I met you, we went to the same party, but I don’t remember seeing you there. I like to pretend I was strangely compelled by the sight of you staggering around in a threadbare coat and loosened tie, your lips red from the bottle of wine you clutched, its green neck peeking halfway out of a paper bag. Continue reading Flash No. 26 – Jannitt Ark
A car’s life can be hard to imagine, but maybe not so difficult when the automobile comes back home one last time. Like most objects in the physical universe we occupy, it’s not hard to see when a car is going to wear out. Continue reading Flash No. 25 – Jason Arment
There once was a girl who lived in a little house in a pine wood. The pines were tall and thick with needles, and above them was a clear deep blue sky with large white clouds in it, solid-seeming white clouds that moved swiftly on a brisk wind, like boats on their way to some place or another. Continue reading Flash No. 24 – Lúa Margita Brau
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
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
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
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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
You go to flip the omelet over, and it breaks. Ever so gently a turn, like you always do, and it still breaks. The innards are exposed. The eggs will continue to harden and soon burn. Continue reading Flash No. 21 – Josh Dale
The author confesses that this story has been written entirely by mistake. It begins with the mistake of an alarm clock opening and keeps piling them on: a stereotypical main character, a two-dimensional significant other, an unconvincing villain. Continue reading Flash No. 20 – KP Vogell
And then, slow as you like, Fernando reaches back and peels his cheeks apart. Staring over one shoulder, his lips wet from kissing, his hair still perfect despite all that rolling around.
#Erotica Continue reading Stories No. 87 – T. B. Grennan
“How many candles do you see? Mother? How many? Can you see how many? Sit up. It’s your daughter Eve. Count, Mother. There are 69.” Continue reading Stories No. 86 – John Francis Istel
Every First & Fifteenth by Dimitri Reyes – Sign up to receive notification Continue reading Every First & Fifteenth
In a brothel outside of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, an English archaeologist finds a clay tablet with Latin writings. After careful study, historians believe it is the reproduction of a letter written by John the Apostle. Continue reading Flash No. 19 – JP Infante
Read the Medication Guide that comes with AMBIEN before you begin taking the pill, or unless you can’t sleep. Which is ironic. Continue reading Flash No. 18 – Denise Tolan
I am folding my mom’s fancy clothes. Bright patterned dresses and diaphanous floral blouses from Bloomingdale’s. Bespoke wool pants, now impossibly baggy, from a shop on Madison. All the finery she once wore to Broadway plays and opera at the Met, to museums and lunches at upscale Manhattan restaurants. Continue reading Flash No. 17 – Sue Mell
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“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
You are no earth-bound love
Spoke the girl to the God of the Sun. Continue reading Hybrid No. 1 – Emma Eisler
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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
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Lorenzo Rivas stirred a seventh packet of sugar into his coffee. He wondered how much of his twelve-minute break he’d spent staring at the barista’s arm. Continue reading Stories No. 84 – C. Adán Cabrera
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
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
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One day (which we must all understand to mean many years ago now) a girl in her mother’s kitchen cuts a lock of her shiny hair, sets it in resin, and promises to live forever. When she is ninety-three and dying, she calls grey loved ones into the room to give these instructions: Continue reading Flash No. 16 – Taylor V. Card
Winner Submersion by Marie Baléo Continue reading 2021 Digging Press Chapbook Results
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
In today’s Community, we are honored to re-introduce poetry and prose by Lucia Orellana Damacela and Andi Boyd. Lucia Orellana Damacela Sifting “a remote control morning. baking shows. digitized feelings. cyber social distance. video-called closeness. the screen the new skin. some earrings and a navy sweater over pjs an ensemble…” PankAugust 11, 2020 ———————- At Sea “The boat tremblesas if it has seen an old … Continue reading Community No. 62
In today’s Community, we are honored to re-introduce prose and poetry by Denise Tolan and by Zoë Biggs. Denise Tolan Mercury Rising “I see my dead father from time to time. He drives through our old neighborhood in a late model Mercury;…” Crack the SpineMay 20, 2020 ———————- Thank a Bad Girl “There are, of course, bad girls. Bad girls who open wide for a Xanax … Continue reading Community No. 61
In today’s Community, we are honored to re-introduce poetry and prose by Kathy Kremins and Merridawn Duckler. Kathy Kremins Blowing That Trumpet Like Miles “Full moon on Friday the 13th radiated circles of light like the slowly slapping waves of a low Jersey tide, luminous white, a queen wearing a crown…” The Night Heron BarksSummer 2020 Merridawn Duckler First Patty, then Others “We had never … Continue reading Community No. 60
In today’s Community, we are honored to re-introduce prose by Bob MacKenzie and Jon Shorr. Bob MacKenzie In the Midst of Things “in empty streets of locked doorsshuttered windows and the deadbodies on flatbeds to be buried…” Poetry and COVIDNovember 16, 2020 ———————- Amy “Sandy is in the living room; the sitting room, as her mother so quaintly insists on calling it. This had been … Continue reading Community No. 59
In today’s Community, we are honored to re-introduce poetry by Summer J. Hart and prose by Jim Ross. Summer J. Hart Boy Crazy “Nadine belongs to an owl now. They imprinted while I was on vacation. I scowl at my hot pink crop-top & try to pull it down over my belly button. Boy Crazy is printed in puff letters across my chest…” WaxwingFebruary 15, 2020 ———————- … Continue reading Community No. 58
In today’s Community, we are honored to re-introduce prose by C. Adán Cabrera and Jenny Shank. C. Adán Cabrera A Working Class Prayer “for my father, who wakes up in the dark, and who through storm or errant sickness must still ferry strangers to whomever may be waiting for them on the other side…” 433 MagazineMay 2020 ———————- La Siguanaba “The way the story goes, … Continue reading Community No. 57
In today’s Community, we are honored to re-introduce stories and poetry by Steve Henn and D. E. Fulford. Steve Henn Are You Picking Up What I’m Putting Down / Elegy for my friend April, Gone these 20 years “My GF tells meher new friend likes to lift I say I prefer to put down.Not to criticize your fitness…“ The Broadkill ReviewSeptember 2020 ———————- a Small … Continue reading Community No. 56
In today’s Community, we are honored to re-introduce poetry by henry 7. reneau, jr. and stories by Andrew Stancek. henry 7. reneau, jr. Who speak Sass like Scripture? “Who the outside agitator…” Superstition ReviewDecember 1, 2020 ———————- Every Angry Black Man Could Give A Fuck About Post-Racial Politically Correct Rhetoric. That Is The Same Lie Willie Lynch Used To Chain The Minds Of Slaves. “The … Continue reading Community No. 55
In today’s Community, we are honored to re-introduce stories by Annie Dawid and Tony Press. Annie Dawid The Closer You Were, the Less You Knew “When Jules drops Ina off for the procedure, he kisses her deeply, embarrassingly, in the back of the cab and says, “Last time I caress the dear old face of the dear old gal I married.” SequestrumSpring 2020 ———————- Sacred … Continue reading Community No. 54
In today’s Community, we are honored to re-introduce stories by Paul Beckman and Ann Graham. Paul Beckman Scrub-a-Dub-Dub “It’s a quarter of seven and time to put Henry to bed or my daughter will be all over my case and blame me if he’s late getting up in the morning and cranky from lack of sleep and he only wants to watch the end of … Continue reading Community No. 53
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A Tale of Two Maps By Peter Gregg Slater Knowing how I love maps, the owner of a bookstore in Washington, D.C. brought out two for me to look over during a 2019 visit. The first, a world map from 1578, displayed the surrealistic continents and islands characteristic of the period’s cartography. Tiny ships bravely sailed its seas, a few ominously heading towards waters marked: … Continue reading Flash No. 15 – Peter Gregg Slater
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Stroke
By Katie Mauro Zeigler
If I could talk, I would tell you that I used to have sex with the windows open and the moonlight and a man’s hands at the small of my back. I would tell you how it felt to bring a baby into the world and how my first period came at twelve. Continue reading Flash No. 14 – Katie Mauro Zeigler
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Fomorians By Peter F. Crowley You’re a piss reminder of an everlasting hotel. She spoke in a fiery tone. The man waddled side-to-side and began patting a penguin. He glanced to a chalkboard behind the penguin, where were written the words: We’ve broken glass, crushed marigold eyes, dethroned coughing cathedrals, driven Zambonis over subterranean rinks, planted flowers that scratch out esophagi – and now … Continue reading Flash No. 13 – Peter F. Crowley
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Reunited in the Fourth House By Gary Singh After leaving the BART station, I visit my Berkeley astrologer at her spooky wooden house near Rose and Milvia, where paint-peeled steps take me to a porch milieu of hanging plants, ancient wicker sectionals, and apathetic cats. Soon enough, the door opens, revealing those same clear eyes of a clairvoyant nature I remember from morning Tarot … Continue reading Flash No. 12 – Gary Singh
Naked: A New Poetry Collection Book Review by Gessy Alvarez Naked: A New Poetry Collection By Abiodun Oyewole with an introduction by Lyah Beth Leflore 2Leaf Press, November 2020 Distributed by University of Chicago Press 180 pages; $16.99 Abiodun Oyewole’s Naked: A New Poetry Collection is imbibed with wonderfully unadorned free-form poetics that transfigure the natural world with boundless and mystical cadence. Oyewole – poet, … Continue reading Naked: A New Poetry Collection by Abiodun Oyewole – Book Review No. 10
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Slow Motion Man By Benjamin Davis His name was Eam. Reality shot him in slow motion. He worked in Spain, Salamanca, a bar called ‘El Submarino,’ the second bar, up the stairs. When he snapped open a beer, it took a minute. When he mixed a drink, it took ten. But, people waited, people watched. I waited. I watched. His eyes found me; eyes … Continue reading Flash No. 11 – Benjamin Davis
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Toward Non-Volatile Memory By Soramimi Hanarejima Once again, you take us on “a short detour to see a memory”—meaning we’re going to visit some event in your past. So, I take a nap. To give you some privacy and get some respite from the strain time travel subjects the body to. I recline the time machine’s co-pilot seat (really more of a glorified passenger … Continue reading Flash No. 10 – Soramimi Hanarejima
Book Excerpt When I Return to You, I Will Be Unfed by Christopher Bowen Gary jumps up and down as we cross paths for the first time down the hall clasping his hands together in exasperation and reaching his right one out to shake mine. I reach out and he vigorously shakes it. He is excited to meet me. I say hello and give him … Continue reading Excerpt No. 4 – Christopher Bowen
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Drag Racing By Catherine Martinez Torigian The last time I heard that sound I was a girl of fifteen, give or take a year. But it was only this morning that I realized it what it was, like a flash of heat lightning on a summer’s day, baffling until the thunder came. A man and woman from the new building on the corner walked … Continue reading Flash No. 9 – Catherine Martinez Torigian
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Kapre Down Under By Ben Umayam Aspen trees proliferate primarily through root sprouts. Whole colonies can be traced to one gargantuan underground sprout. The colonies can extend from the Colorado Rockies to the Canadian ones. Aspen trees are like clones. They share identical characteristics from the single root structure. When they die, it’s almost like they don’t, another tree sprouts from the massive underground formation. … Continue reading Flash No. 8 – Ben Umayam
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Morning Sun By David Joseph I remember the first time I saw “Morning Sun” by Edward Hopper. I was on a school trip from our high school in Cleveland. It was only a two hour drive down to the Columbus Museum of Art and, truth be told, I was more interested in spending the afternoon making out with my boyfriend than staring at art. Museums … Continue reading Flash No. 7 – David Joseph
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The Missing Years By John Nicholson The engine idles as a wounded soldier recovers on the ground, holding his abdomen. Another soldier leans against the car. The smoke from his cigarette vanishes into the snowy canopy. The wounded man chokes as he recounts what happened to him. I. A Roadway in the Woods “It was just the two of us. I couldn’t.” The standing soldier … Continue reading Flash No. 6 – John Nicholson
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Brief Encounter By Lucía Orellana Damacela It’s dark under the house, the smell of the sea —less than one mile downhill— expands my nostrils like desert flowers. From this underbelly, this rocky refuge, as I pass by, a sudden shimmer calls me in. I am wearing white cotton socks and plastic sandals that screech as I walk. Two small green-yellow lights are suspended in front … Continue reading Flash No. 5 – Lucía Orellana Damacela
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The End Which Envelopes the End, a Bramble, a Rose By Elizabeth Kirschner Lonely, like a coffee mug on the shelf, I slow roll into the empty spot on the bed where we shed the best skin of our lives. We were a thing of beauty, weren’t we? A thing of beauty, us, this, before that man—not you!—shoved my face into the weeds. I can … Continue reading Flash No. 4 – Elizabeth Kirschner
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A Gift By Christine Kendall Lourdes sat, thirsty, in her son’s old Mercedes sandwiched between delivery vans on East Seventy-Ninth Street. She studied the license plates of passing cars; all local—New York. “I’ll only be a minute, Mama.” That’s what he’d said before taking his tools and disappearing into one of the limestone apartment buildings. Lourdes smoothed her blouse at the neck and watched a … Continue reading Flash No. 3 – Christine Kendall
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