Scales of Balance

by Bill Loundy
Mom sits with Mark at a lacquered mahogany table in the parlor, scanning through frayed puzzle pieces, her eyebrows furrowing into an upside-down V. In front of them, the box is propped open and they take turns looking up and down, first at an image of a calico cat lounging among dahlias [...]

Naming Him

by Jessamyn Edra
Evelyn grips the cold curves of the sink. She closes her eyes, lets the image of malformed Irish Spring soap and unscrubbed tub fade to black.
She remembers back when she was a kid, her mother promoted afternoon naps by turning them into a competition. Evelyn dutifully shut her eyes [...]

A Story in the Water

by Rebecca Fraimow
She tells him stories; every night, after he’s tired himself out with trying to find a way home, she tells him a story.
“Once upon a time, there was a woman,” she tells him. “She was pretty as humans go – not as beautiful as me.” Her tone implies obviousness. To [...]

Drying, Freezing, Canning

By Michelle Traub

Our ceiling is falling in, and next week is my grandfather’s ninety-first birthday. This morning, I woke up with plaster on my pillow. My father says he will look into it, but the rains have been heavy. The galvanized iron gutter, rust-resistant for the past decade, needs to be repaired. [...]

What’s There in Marquam Hill?

by Scott Bolkan
Download “What’s There in Marquam Hill?” as a PDF.

A Modern Guide to Pi

By Steven Tagle
     “I never planned to become a pi junkie. I never thought I’d become intimately familiar with the Holy Grail of geeks and math majors, or know that its sixty-forth digit was three. But handsome Derek made me learn it, digit by stubborn digit, as we raced up the stairwell of the [...]

Stay Out of the Way & No Matter What Don’t Make a Scene

Download “Stay Out of the Way & No Matter What Don’t Make a Scene” as a PDF

Composite Body

By Tony Tulathimutte
     This photo—it has no title, though now I’ll call it what Lorraine’s father Steve once called me, “Spider”. Because of your long, skinny legs, he’d explained, as if I didn’t already get it. The photo is of a bare-limbed cherry tree and a little house, and both are out of focus. In the [...]

The Room Without Windows

By Ly Chheng
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     Prior to Tenkuu’s birth, the most famous fortune teller in all of Kanagawa prefecture told Tenkuu’s mother that Tenkuu would die an early death. Shiho, unconvinced, sought a second opinion, then a third, a fourth, and a fifth. It was unanimous, however, for all five men had bet against her unborn [...]