Everybody’s Everybody Brady Achterberg __________ My friend Dan died the other day. That’s fine by me apparently. I don’t get sad for shit. I am a dumb animal that only responds to physical pain. I used to think it was because I was young but now I’m 31 and the…
Read MoreEncounter Benjamin Kessler __________ Turns out Studs Henry had been keeping exotic animals on eleven acres east of Red Butte. That’s pretty fucked, forcing zebras and meerkats to freeze through the high plains winters. Making things worse was the fact that, right before Studs ate his gun, he opened all…
Read MoreThe Sound of Silence Amanda Hays __________ Ray couldn’t decide which of the oozing, bleeding bags of meat would most please his brother. The overhead lights in the meat section of the Piggy Wiggly were dim, the air cool. After much deliberation, he tossed one of the packages into his…
Read MoreLeaving Leaf River Hannah Kroonblawd __________ The dining room’s hardwood floor was waxed so mirror-like that Rebekah could see her face reflected off it. Mom had never put down a rug, thinking it too expensive or too stuffy or too much like Jenna Fairchild’s dining room, all cut glass and…
Read MoreWinter with Periwinkle Redfern Boyd __________ Summer gets all the glory. People talk about their lives changing during the hot months. Our season was winter, especially the limbo between Christmas and New Year’s. That time belonged to us, me and Periwinkle, and to our families, who lived the other eleven…
Read MoreQueen for a Day Emily Collins __________ I find my mother in the garage curled like a cat on top of the washing machine—something she hasn’t done since I was small and hurting and drunk off her love. I stand beside the washing machine and shake Mother gently. Her shoulder…
Read MoreLaton Carter __________ This Pleasing Sting Lady Mary Wroth was having a devil of a time with Auto-Correct. In this strang labourinth how shall I turne? she cried out. But her words were deleted and revised: In this strangled labor, without shallots I return. Shallots. Had someone ordered soup? And…
Read More