By Samantha Tkac 1. Hop on the T and head to the job interview you’ve been excited about for weeks. When the man huffing Nicorette breath against the back of your neck snags the bucket of your slacks as you step out onto the platform, whip around so you can pound your knuckles into his [...]
By Jane Snyder When I woke, Suzie was still asleep, lying on her stomach, her bottom a little raised. She looked cute, like a baby, and I tiptoed from our room with exaggerated care. If she teased me I’d use it against her. Suzie with her big butt in the air, I’d say. I went [...]
By Terry Sanville Douglas climbed the outside stairs two at a time to his second-floor apartment over Tuck’s Liquor. He keyed the front door and slipped inside. Fugem dropped onto the carpet from her window perch and yowled, then purred when he filled her bowl with kibble. Outside, the noise died back, only a few [...]
By David Laks We’re all going to die. It’s just a question of when. That is my job—to figure out when you will die. Well, not you specifically, but you as a representative of you. The digital model of you. I am a data analyst at John Adams Life Insurance Company and my job is [...]
By Claudia Wair Most people keep their masks in a kitchen drawer or hang them up on a rack next to their keys. The masks are then easily accessible in case of visitors and when you’re on the way out of the house. My mother is different, though. She keeps hers in the top drawer [...]
By Mileva Anastasiadou It’s not like you chose the destination. But you step onto the car, or the plane, or the ship, attempting to find a comfortable seat. You don’t choose the seat, they tell you, so you sit where indicated, not bothering with questions. And it all seems a miracle in the beginning. The [...]
By Dini Armstrong After consulting with the elders, they chose to buy Oideacha, approaching life on this tiny Scottish island with all the naivety and determination of youth. Quaker values still rang true to them when they signed on the dotted line: peace, simplicity, integrity, stewardship of the earth. Hamish had years of experience volunteering [...]
By John Sheirer “Good morning, everyone,” the professor said looking out at the enthusiastic room full of vibrant young people. She pulled up a class roster on her palm-sized tablet. “When I call your first name, please raise your hand. Okay? First up is Ashley.” “Here,” a woman in the back row called out. “Donald?” [...]
By Otis Fuqua The moon is not out. Deborah is not in bed. A stranger’s silhouette is not rolling toward her like a panther. “Mish Deborah?” a child’s voice asks—Ricardo, at the front of the classroom. The esses catch on his braces. There is no face like a saber-tooth tiger. An eely stripe of stubble [...]
MEMORANDUM TO: The Elf Consortium FROM: Kris Kringle, aka Santa Claus RE: Downsizing1 DATE: November 24, 2019 ****************************************************************************** After extensive thought and countless sleepless nights, it is with great sadness and disappointment that I announce the downsizing of our North Pole headquarters. Physical, marketplace, and socio-political changes factored into [...]
By Sasha Ockenden Stanley pressed the “on” button on his monitor, pulled the keyboard towards him and entered an uninterrupted series of keystrokes for fifteen minutes, followed by six mouse clicks. Then he stood up. Two people worked in the office: Stanley, whose ID card on the desk in front of him read “Communications Innovator,” and [...]
By Matthew Nelson Hendryx The warrant for my informant’s arrest meant meeting in a public place where we could keep track of anyone approaching. We settled for the revamped carousel on the National Mall. He could watch in all directions as we rotated. I, freelance reporter Stacy Prickelton, was meeting with a prominent member of the [...]
By Corey Miller The entire world was transfixed by the TV. In all languages, the broadcasters described the atmosphere in the room. The camera zoomed in on the lucky woman chosen; next to her, a polished glass and a bottle of Coca Cola. All went quiet. Earth held its breath. The woman cracked the bottle [...]
By Tara Campbell Neighbors, These are difficult times for True Patriots. With election season coming up, the lamestream media is going to start sniffing around our peaceful Neighborhood, asking for our opinions on things. You never know when an Enemy of the State is going to stick a microphone in your face, waiting for you [...]
By Rebecca Lee The bus station smells like stale cigarettes and something milky mixed with a sour aftertaste. Babies and homeless people. They are completely opposite from each another. One has lived too much and the other, not enough. Together, they sit in the row of blue plastic seats in front of and behind me. [...]
