“He’d come to appreciate the sounds she made, a steady grumble of snores that lessened whenever she turned on her side. The things she said were invariably hostile: ‘Who the hell is Becky?’ ‘Don’t fucking look at me!’ ‘Why didn’t you answer the phone?'” By Mike Heppner
Fiction
The Mask
A super-short work of fiction by Mark Sherman that the Woodstock Times called “a great, psychodrama-short story (involving psychoanalysis, no less).”
Siddhartha Remains in His Father’s Palace
“Because of Channa’s guardianship, Siddhartha would become the ruler that he was ever destined to become.” By Phong Nguyen
Excerpt from SOY SAUCE FOR BEGINNERS, by Kirstin Chen
“I clamped my arms to my sides in an attempt to hide the sweat stains. ‘She’s very bright,’ Uncle Robert added, as if describing a puppy or a small child. He leaned in close like he was sharing a secret.” By Kirstin Chen
Delivery
“Back in the kitchen I found Robert licking one side of each pepperoni before he put it on the pizza.” By Thomas Thulman
Moths
“Daria laughs up at Jeff, the man she will marry, even though she’s not pregnant.” By Heidi Bell
Cobb County
“He couldn’t risk Walter, Peggy’s father, catching him doing things—you know, sexual things—with his daughter.” By Jamie Iredell
Something Simple, Something Complicated
“At the time, Lucy Hayek saw Zack as a better alternative to experimenting with a bunch of anti-depressants.” By C.E. Hyun
Ghosts
“My girlfriend, the incredibly hot born-again Christian to whom I lost my virginity, asked me if you were an actual fag, or if you just acted like one.” By Michael Rowe
Asymptomatic
“When my mom calls to tell me that my father has been hospitalized, it doesn’t take me long to decide to use the information to hit on a girl.” Weekend Fiction by Patrick Hueller
Should Authors Write Characters Outside Their Race?
Should an author write characters of a different race than his own? Is that exploitation? Appropriation? Race denial? Or is it the author’s right? A conversation with Bill Cheng and Christine Lee Zilka on writing outside one’s race.
Brat’s Last Things
“This was two months before he left his family. Arthur can’t tell you exactly what he did on that birthday, only that it left a taste of fatty pizza and cheap plastic in his mouth, that it involved a giant singing rodent, and that it was important to him.” Weekend Fiction By Delaney Nolan
What Changes Everything — an Excerpt
“Political discord in this land had always been marked by blood and pain. The stories were unending, shocking the first time, sad but predictable after that.” By Masha Hamilton
A Brief Intimacy
“As we lay on his mattress, the cool summer air from his window slipping across our naked skin, he told me about the first girl he’d ever loved.” By Karissa Chen
The Neighbor
“She looks into my living room as if to glimpse someone behind me. No one should be there.” By Jimin Han
El Soldado: an Excerpt from LOTERIA
“When she disappeared Papi didn’t eat for weeks.” An excerpt from LOTERIA, by Mario Alberto Zambrano.