life

  • EASTSIDE GENERAL HOSPITAL, PATIENTS, THE RESTLESS AND THE NOT-SO PATIENT (Marvel Chukwudi Pephel)

    The policeman turns to look at him well. “My friend, we are looking for your kidney and not your money. You didn’t give the man your money. What you gave him is your kidney, and that’s what we need to find. It’s when we find it we can begin to talk about your money. Pray…

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  • Ascend (Nicholas Kellogg)

    I leaned in and pressed my lips against his own. They were soft. He kissed back. I know he did. I swear, he kissed me back. And for a few seconds there was only Maverick and Reston—hiding in a bush during recess and locking lips in a safe space. 

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  • Creation Myth (M. Anne Avera)

    After the positive pregnancy test, I became something ancient—maternal with my nesting habits and my constant hunger. I watched the body I occupied grow and change, a ship of Theseus rended from flesh. Joy and anticipation replaced desire and pride. The horrible things pregnancy wrought on my body—hyperemesis, preeclampsia—were signs of something greater, a life…

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  • The Spectre of Death (Stephen Wise)

    I opened my mouth to counter that statement, but had no argument. What did I do with my life? I wasn’t invested in my job. I played games, watched videos, scrolled social media. My outside activities involved others prying me out of the house to participate—otherwise, I wouldn’t have made the effort. I had no…

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  • Miss Fortune (Zach Davis)

    I make a mental note to later slip the volunteer my business card (“Your life is written in the stars, and Jade can read the handwriting!”), then I blow the whistle given to each pair of searchers, alerting everyone that little Bobby Calloway’s been found. When we started out this morning, the volunteer coordinator told…

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  • Waggish Tales from Wrecked Roads & Rowdy Trails (Nicholas Viglietti)

    So, on those dead days in your lost mind, when the sky is gray and the sun won’t shine, and everything seems like it’s fallin’ behind, and you find yourself confused on the losin’ end of the livin-grind, you know you had (probably still do) the guts to go nuts, cut the cord loose, and…

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  • Ta-Da! (Daniel Bird)

    Ta-Da! (Daniel Bird)

    Mr Henley, a good magician, like a good man, can control the whole mood of a party. A corporate gig where the boss needs to be ridiculed gently to show he’s one of the team too. A child who believes for a moment that a rabbit has come from a hat. A mad group of…

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