You, Visitor by Jane O’Sullivan
You don’t like her much, not that you can tell her that. Slugging along behind you, hands in pockets. Sullen as a fish despite the fucking dawn rising over the city, the glory of it.
Gentian Violet by Liz Rosen
While I held our daughter’s bleeding index finger high over the kitchen sink, I knew that somewhere on the highway, you were driving to work, listening for word of catastrophes on NPR or unironically singing the words of an 80’s song made-over by a country boy.
The Subtle Light by Hetty Mosforth
Word of mouth gets him the job and gets him past the gatehouse. He tramps towards the house like a stray dog, turrets and crenelations coming into focus.
When Bebe and Kumar Met Halloween Night at the Lizard Lounge in Vegas by Kathryn Silver-Hajo
She was dressed as a belly dancer—all fake-silver coins and gauzy material—cheesy for sure, especially given her Afghani heritage, but she had the outfit already so what the hell?
Welcome to NFFR #32, Animal Life
Thank you to everyone who submitted works. As usual it was incredibly hard to make our selections due to the stellar quality of the writings you shared with us.