Guillem arrives late, as always, rapid-firing apologies at his boss as he bustles through the beach bar and pulls on his apron. He stops at my table first, pointing to my near-empty glass. “Another beer, Miss?” Miss. Sweet, when I’m old enough to be his mother.
Mavis Slaughterhouse was fifteen years older than us, a greying redhead and a former professional wrestler once known as Crimson Slaughter.
We first locked eyes near the hog offal stall at Brigsbee Market. His wiry frame bent over me like an inchworm in heat. When he smiled, I saw rotten teeth.
Featuring work by Mikki Aronoff, Alyssa Aung, Jack Barrie, Jill Bronfman, Rebecca Croser, Peter DeMarco, Travis Flatt, Jaime Gill, Kat Gonso, Robert McBrearty, Kim Murdock, Nora Nadjarian, Chris Scott, and Nathan Leslie.
Cole Beauchamp chats with Claudia Monpere, the winner of the 2024 New Flash Fiction Prize, about where she finds inspiration, the best apple for mental health, why she writes in her car instead of her office, owning anger and writing more grace and hope.