Most read stories

Tumbleweed Suite

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in late fall, Rome, sans wind, sans rancor, sans sand or rain, sans hate ...

Lost among the Riff-raff

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Poor, pocked Ceres- dwarf planet/ trapped among mere asteroids-

Working things out in my head

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A shot in the dark and everything goes black. It's as if the story never happened.

Rubber-Band Requiem

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“Now we lay you in your grave There was no way you could be saved You hate our lord Jesus and he can tell Which is why you will burn in hell.”

Spider Bite

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“You done done sumpin’,” the old man guessed, “Sumpin’ bad...”

Inconsequential

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I write poems as if language matters.

The Little Room Where We'd Fit

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She asked if I needed to be measured for size “to make sure they feel really good on you,” her lips all gloss and smile. I was nineteen and knew my size but changes in weight had caused fluctuations before so maybe I'd be different…

The Judge's Wife Part 10

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The Judge waited for the perfect wave.

Ketchup and eggs

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As a young baby, perhaps a year old, I have a memory of sitting on myfathers lap, in front of a coal stove to keep us warm, while my mothercooked soft boiled eggs for him every morning. He would break offa piece of his toast, dip it in the egg, and feed it to…

The Artist

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The story itself is not much longer than a snippet. What is a snippet anyway?

Where They Have to Take You In

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Sunday morning beginning with a bang. Accused, found wanting, sentenced.

RINSE AND OXIDATION

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...listening to the ache of errs our mouths had become.

Funhouse

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beatings and tear gas

Everything to do with you

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I don't know, I could go on all day with these little niches he found in every person that made them at least a little interesting. Everyone collects baseball cards.

Bunnies

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I laughed maniacally in my head at the thought, but I kept picking at it all the same, the bunnies had plans for us.

Assiduity Two

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I'm old enough to be her father.

A Body Unable

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Once again there's too much to handle and no space to process

The Apartment House

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Everybody called her The Crier because from time to time we would hear her crying.

A Not-For-Kids Dream That All Boys Have

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The room turns red and I start screaming and ejaculating. The whole class is watching as Mr.Smith slams down my copy of the test with his right hand and swiftly tears off my penis with his left.

20 & 21

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I want to tell you things you do not know.

Static

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The days cut off by damp chill with every thought a different variety of protection.

Ashes (for RC)

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Floating along the ebbs of the ocean,toward the horizon, where time has no say,an end that will never be reached.

Should Have Gotten Delivery Instead

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My mind raced at the endless possibilities one could die while driving to get a pizza.

Five Million Yen: Chapter 9

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Naked Lady? I know that from somewhere. Then he remembered. That's what they called those old 1930's and 40's Conn saxophones, Naked Ladies. How would Smith know that?

Our Merchant-Ivory Weekend

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“A shibboleth is a test—a way to separate da wheat from da chaff that's as old as the Bible, but as new as the latest trend in men's fashions,” Gus says.

Baby Catalogue

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my mouth is open, ready to bite your tiny toes

Barbarian(s) Within the Gates

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This writers' conference (sponsored by VQR, which had run its banner ad atop the Fictionaut home page in the summer of 2014, which begins to explain both my attendance and this essay) revealed itself as an apt subject . . .

But It's Been a While

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When I first met Luther he was sitting on the sidewalk, his back pushed up against a vacant storefront wall, thumbing through the “help wanted” section of a few-days-old copy of our local paper and I was moved to offer him a couple of dollars for which he said,…

Cleveland Clinic

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Allie didn't share that moment with Jim. That moment he spoke about whenever they made new friends as a couple— that moment he planned to recount at their engagement party.

Safe

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She left knives and hot pots with handles akimbo. Like a guardian angel, he turned them in. Like an ungrateful Eve, she turned them back out.