SHORT STORIES
Tungelquq Ellam Iinga: The Spirit at the End of Life by Naomi Klouda
Apa was my running coach. He told me, Get legs high in the air—tink of leaping caribou, tink of the high kick, tink of the spirit dancers floating off to the sky. I ran with all my might, lacking…
Give and Take by Abhijith Ravinutala
Rajesh considers himself a man of few exceptions, for he was raised as such. His morning routine requires a piping-hot filter coffee with boiled milk, served in a steel cup inside of a rimmed steel saucer. He then pours…
I Am a Dragon Joss Stick: An Essay by Yee Heng Yeh
Starting-starting I better tell the readers that this won’t be their typical primary school karangan, isn’t it? I know one, just because they see the title, sure they thinking they so clever, already know the whole story from Paragraph…
Hat Man Plays the Blues by Julian Riccobon
You saw him once on the E train, during a moment of drowsiness. The Hat Man, or—as your abuela used to call him—El Silbón. It was 4 a.m. and you’d just finished your graveyard shift at the 24/7 pharmacy.…
Everybody Knows by Jaclyn Port
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…
Calamansi by Joseph Cusi Tian-Delamerced
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…
The Walking Dead by Stephanie Gangi
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. …
Minefield by Alison Gibbs
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…
23 Images in Your Gallery of Absent Things by Angela Kubinec
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…
The Confidante by Mehdi M. Kashani
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?…