By Andrea Chesman A slow warmth seeps through his body. Is there anything more satisfying than awakening from a long winter’s sleep? His thoughts drift lazily. The scent of lilies, insistent, floral. And the cry of the loons, eerie and frightening. Sun on the top of his head. His heart rate speeds up; his discomfort … Continue reading Pond Life
By Jo Underwood I sat down with Dan Leach for a nostalgic conversation about his 2025 Hub City novel, Junah at the End of the World, which received the South Carolina Novel Prize and the Kirkus Star. Dan Leach reaches into the heart of the cracked sidewalks of southern suburbia and pulls from it a … Continue reading Write Like a Boozehound and Keep Looking: A Conversation with Dan Leach About Junah at the End of the World
By John Cheesebrow We were never close. It was lost on me why my grandfather chose to beckon me to his side three weeks before his death to slide me a shoebox with a gun inside. He smirked when I flipped back the cardboard and saw it there, agnostic gray and vibrating with power. A … Continue reading Artifacts of a Bloodline
By J. Palmer The summer camp that is supposed to be like college is almost over. You wanted a camp with arts and crafts and archery, not one with algebra and English composition. You’ll go to the YMCA sleepaway camp that you’ve gone to since you were six for the second half of the summer. … Continue reading When a Choice Is Not a Choice
By Bob Johnson Ferris stood in his sunroom, looking across the pond to where his neighbor Robert O’Connor mowed his backyard. A half dozen houses surrounded the gleaming two acres of water, all lawns but one impeccably maintained. The O’Connor yard alone was littered with dandelions and toys, its shoreline thick with cattails. O’Connor’s son … Continue reading The Good Neighbor
By Mark Brazaitis In the English class I taught in the junior high school, Paulina sat in the front row and always had the most questions. When I did the asking, she answered in a loud voice, even when her answers were wrong. One of my secondary projects as a Peace Corps volunteer in Santa … Continue reading Paulina’s Dream
By Sara Davis Imagine a story you know, but this version begins with a man embracing a tree. The tree is a laurel tree, slight and smooth-barked, shuddering as if wracked by a solitary storm in the silent wood. Its branches swing like the arms of a runner, exuding a perfume of agitation from its … Continue reading Metamorphoses in Reverse
Anyone. Anywhere. Anytime. by Honey Rand It wasn’t the first trip or last; it wasn’t the most memorable or cheapest, or most expensive. I went to Amsterdam for cheese, tulips, wooden shoes, and Heineken. It’s a big city. The streets are crowded and dirty, like many big cities, and there I learned that it was … Continue reading Person. Place. Prey.
by Paloma Thoen February 2014 “Elena’s gotta go,” my mom tells me as she hands me a piss cup. I concentrate on the opposing wall so that I can pee. I wrap a strand of my hair around my finger until it rips from my scalp. I worry she’ll find the bottle of detox solution … Continue reading Playground Love
by Jillian Schedneck The driver flirted with both of us. As soon as we climbed in the Dhow Khasab Tour’s van, Mohamed told Tori and I he was honored to transport such beautiful women to Musandam, the place he now called home. Tori was all “ooohs” and “ahhhs” at the snack box on each of … Continue reading Our Boys From Musandam