Rowan O’Neal
When the old man boarded the bus dragging his rolling metal basket, laden with groceries, he joked that he had nearly 200 pounds. The driver asked how far he was going, to which the old man replied, “Oh two, three stops, just up to the top of the hill.” There really was not much of a hill, but it was clear that the old man would not have been able to drag his groceries that far. The driver told the man not to worry about his fare which seemed sensible, […]
Fiona Haborak
In the reflective glass, you spy a distorted version of yourself. An agitated woman stares back. So, you shrink a little further into yourself, shoulders hunched to avoid attention. Dark circles hang under your eyes far heavier than your Burlington bag bargain find. Cheap, purple earbuds jostle with every stop announced over the intercom. You sigh and shuffle closer to the sliding doors to make for a swift exit.
You must be tired of the songs they write about girls: the ones you will never be. You’re drowning in your oversized sweater, your woolen […]
J. David Liss
I
The train was about to pull out of Union Station, the conductor talking and talking over the loudspeaker system so that nobody could make a phone call. I’d gotten on board early and found my favorite seat — the aisle seat at the front of the car facing back. I liked being able to see the faces of the people riding with me, even if it meant looking back where we came from.
The front of the train always has a four-seater, two facing forward, […]
Scott Reel
“No one takes mental health seriously—or seriously takes people without mental health. I guess the result is the same. It’s easier nowadays to gain a handicap spot for being colorblind than it is an extension on a class paper for depression and anxiety. But that’s not why I’m here, although I wish it were that simple. And to answer your next two questions, yes, I’ve thought about hurting myself, and, yes, I’ve thought about hurting others, but only philosophically in the first case and romantically in the second.
“By philosophically, I mean […]
Dan Linehan
Excerpt from “Fish, Frogs, and Alluvial Fans” (chapter 3) in The Journey to the Bottom of the World (episode 1) of the multimedia serial novel The Princess of the Bottom of the World
Scroll to the end to enjoy the digital component of the multi-media project The Princess at The Bottom of The World
A song wasn’t what got me aboard the first airplane, mile zero, the start of a meandering journey to Antarctica, but a different kind of transmission that I ended up hearing from a […]
Andrew Touma
The manager glanced both ways before walking toward the center lane of the freeway. This was done out of habit; he wasn’t afraid of being struck. He stood for a moment, using his eyes to trace the parallel lines toward the rising sun. His dark shadow stretched far behind him on the ashen concrete. He scanned the horizon, but the downtown buildings were absent. Before imagination or timidity could take hold, he dropped the pole from under his arm and began the assembly.
He worked in silence and without witness. Once […]
Hannah Diry
The first time you see her, she might as well have been a hallucination.
The gas station lights are buzzing faintly, neon bright after the dimness inside your car. You stand there blinking for a second, acclimating, while the doors whoosh shut behind you. What were you doing again? Oh yes, paying for gas. And coffee.
You make your way over to the coffee machine in the corner, passing between packs of crisps and pots of noodles. The machine has seen […]
Fiona Haborak
These days, he’s a corpse. An automaton crookedly shambling down the migraine-inducing neon strip, wrinkled suit wet from stale liquor and sweat. He squints while trying to bring her lazy image into focus. An out-of-focus apparition makes him lose track of time. The face of his watch suffers a splinter from his most recent bender.
‘Lo and behold, there she is, amongst the sea of tourists and one-day marriage lovebirds, with that handsome magazine man by her stick-thin side. Mafia, he suspects, by the way he’s packing, […]
Colin Bredenberg
“Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.” – God
Their communications systems were the first to fail as the waters rose and fires rained from the skies. The Flood tore through streets and monstrous machines as God spoke in true wrath. Stone titans’ foundations crumbled; the monolithic beasts stumbled and fell. Starvation […]
Jacqueline Doyle
She needs to tell Robert tonight. If she waits any longer it might seem like she’s hiding something, when really, she isn’t. It just hasn’t come up.
The bathroom is still warm and steamy from her shower, fragrant with the scent of lemon soap. She rubs away condensation on the mirror with the side of her hand and leans forward over the sink to get closer as she applies her mascara. The lighting in the bathroom could be better, a fact that she notes every day […]
