SUDAN by Fatima Alharthi
How sad is to witness the deflection of someone from your own ethnicity, who breathes the same air, eats the same dishes, but is enemy to your land’s ethos?
A MARTINI WALKS INTO A BAR by Francine Witte
The sun outside is the color of false hope. He gets to the booth and starts to think handsome thoughts.
THE MOTHERS by Hollynn Huitt
His mom made a quiet bleating sound under her breath. Fear bolted through him, but now he was seven and so he stood his ground.
MY GHOST by Aileen O’Dowd
The exorcist knocks on the door.
LIT VEGAN SEX by M.C. Schmidt
Ultimately, she accepted me, weird diet and all. And last night, for the very first time, she slept over.
HERO by Mike Wilson
But maybe it would be good in some way, this sudden death of his, maybe it would mean his son Jason would move back to town and stop chasing that stupid life as a YouTube street magician.
HERE’S WHAT WE’LL DO ON OUR DRIVE by Derek Harmening
When it’s dark, we’ll turn off the freeway, pull into the one place we can find. Look, you’ll say, pointing up at the harsh red neon.
A MAN FROM THE LORD by Jude Dexter
The plague, the Good Prophet told them, was a judgment, and it would lay Harpers to waste if they did not repent, so they begged the Lord for mercy.
THIS YEAR WAS A BUST by Mike Vizcarra
There is a red lipstick stain on my shirt from when we hugged. Mocking me, the way that stains do.
THE WIND by Cathryn Rose
Dan won an award first for proving God doesn’t exist and then for proving He does.