Issue #9
His Old Man by Gary Duncan

His old man teaching him how to fight. Flicking out a left jab, flattening his nose. Danny’s eyes gushing, tears running down his face.

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Leftovers from Kali’s Table by Leonard Kress

Two married couples face off, microwaved containers of Dal Makhani and curry between them. They are playing a game better suited for their kids, who’ve left their hot dogs and spagetteos to hurry upstairs, as far away as they can get from the tedium of another adult story.

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Bear Wrestling by Gary Fincke

When I climbed into Charley Burchfield’s car, he said he had a surprise for me, something that had to be done right now, June, 1968, because he’d just enlisted in the Marines.

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I’ll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours by Eliot Li

I tell you I’ve only ever shown it to a girl who I met on a tour bus in Moscow, where I was traveling with my parents. She had bad acne, and she really liked Duran Duran.

Electric Storm by Kathryn Aldridge-Morris

It’s been twenty minutes since the first bolt of lightning ripped a scar through the purple night sky. Since my mother said to swim in the rain ― it’s fun. Since her boyfriend Colin said he’d join us― to check we’re ok.

Morse Code by Elizabeth Cabrera

The old man fell asleep in his car, his nostrils pressed softly against the steering wheel, but the car kept going, because the old man’s foot was not asleep, was still pressing down hard, and later they would say, it’s not really his fault, he’s such an old man.

Bog Iron by Shane Larkin

We make stops on the way to our bog plot to look at the little skeletons. Dad tells me about them. Curlews and skylarks in dancing poses. Tiny skulls.

Fulfilling by Fiona McKay

Kate is not ‘imagining it’. There are small tufts of pale fluff on her neck, and no, it’s not ‘just a tissue in the washing machine’ as John suggests. There’s nothing drifting off his shirts, nothing clinging to Ella’s favourite black top, Josh’s Minecraft t-shirts. It’s more solid than tissue, just on her clothes. And only she can see it.