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FICTION

Color close-up photograph of a hardcover, spiral-bound black notebook on a tan damask bedspread; title card for the Flash Fiction story, "Nostalgia UTI" by Trisha Malik.

Nostalgia UTI by Trisha Dhar Malik

November 14, 2025

  Packing up an old home into boxes. Heat of Bombay in May—impossible. Sweat everywhere. Sticky nostalgic and sad, the scene—not poetic or sexy. Sound of that stupid fan, an old creaky man. Over and over and useless like a…

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Color photograph of a large brick historic home in disrepair; title card for the Fiction piece, "Everybody Knows" by Jaclyn Port.

Everybody Knows by Jaclyn Port

November 7, 2025

  It’s summer and everybody knows that’s the best time for an adventure. We have to have an adventure because we are In Everyone’s Hair and There Are Too Many Damn Kids In This Damn House and It’s A Lovely…

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Color photograph of four green striped calamansi fruits with leaves on a black background; title card for the 2025 Short Fiction Prize 1st Place Finalist, "Calamansi" by Joseph Cusi Tian-Delamerced.

Calamansi by Joseph Cusi Tian-Delamerced

October 24, 2025

  By the time Mama wakes up and Lolo steps outside, the calamansi is already in Gabe’s pocket. Gabe sits cross-legged in the dirt, palms empty. Lolo squints at the tree. “Everything is like this when no one’s looking.” “Like…

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Color photograph of the back of a white-haired woman's head as she sits on a bench with blurred background; title card for the 2025 Short Fiction Prize 2nd Place Finalist, "The Walking Dead" by Stephanie Gangi.

The Walking Dead by Stephanie Gangi

October 17, 2025

  Jackie gets onto the elevator from twelve. She says hi to Barbara from sixteen, already on board. Sixteen is the penthouse but no one calls it that anymore, that’s elitist, although the Art Deco button panel still shows PH. …

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Color photograph of a refugee camp with laundry hanging in the foreground and three small children facing away from the camera; title card for the 2025 Short Fiction Prize 3rd Place Finalist, "Minefield" by Alison Gibbs.

Minefield by Alison Gibbs

October 10, 2025

  They called the children night commuters. You used to find this strange, writing fundraising copy at your desk in Sydney, trying to squeeze emotion from dry UN reports. For you, the term conjured up Dickensian images of children going…

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Color image of a white contemporary style crib, empty, against a backdrop of contemporary mint-green and white triangle patterned wallpaper; title card for the 2025 Dialogue Challenge Winner, "Sleeping Arrangements" by Alice Ashe.

Sleeping Arrangements by Alice Ashe

October 3, 2025

  Keep. Keep? I said keep. Sure, all right. These too. Keep? Keep. Okay. And—keep. There’s still nothing in the donate pile. Keep it. Anyway some of this stuff we might use later. Hon. We might. Well. Sure. But someone else probably needs…

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Color image of an autumn forest with bare trees, orange leaves on the ground and the sun shining through branches; title card for the flash fiction story "To Old Friends and a Ghost Walk into the Woods" by Anna Vangala Jones.

Two Old Friends and a Ghost Walk into the Woods by Anna Vangala Jones

September 19, 2025

  We’d agreed to never come back to this place yet here we are. The wind whispers through the trees and unsettles our hair, trying to remind us to leave. Why would we return to these woods? “I don’t care…

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Color photo in pale blue, grey and white of one Polaroid photo on a bleached wood background featuring the back of a female figure facing the sea; title card for the short fiction story "23 Images in Your Gallery of Absent Things" by Angela Kubinec.

23 Images in Your Gallery of Absent Things by Angela Kubinec

September 12, 2025

  1. Fallen leaves are a quiet palette of cut glass; they are a funeral in the church of nature. They make you think of pastry, damp strata from an earlier rainfall, or spirit-shadows looping into the distance. You want…

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Color image of a 3D rendering of a DNA double helix; title card for the flash fiction story, "Grandfather2" by Greg Hrbek.

Grandfather2 by Greg Hrbek

August 15, 2025

  Current Life Situation: Lucrative Work-Assignment, Stable Marriage-Union, Model Son. After daily work-duty, take Municipal Transporter to Metro-Sector T—Genome Modification Center—and receive Target Sequence Update. Then hurry home. Find Model Son (name Theo) at study-station, solving math problem concerning volume…

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Color photo of a row of hanging cotton t-shirts in shades of pink; title card for the short fiction story, "The Confidante" by Medhi M. Kashani.

The Confidante by Mehdi M. Kashani

August 8, 2025

  By the time Hamid learns they’ll have a guest, it’s a done deal. Kathy has this habit of inviting people over for beer on a whim, but having someone—a man, no less—stay for a whole week without consulting him?…

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