COVER ART BY JEREMY GRAND. This frame is from Uglo, which can be purchased on Amazon. Uglo is an illustrated tale of an unfortunate (and slightly despicable) soul on a quest to nowhere for no particular reason besides simply being fed up with the world around her.
AFTER SCHOOL PRACTICE / NICOLE MASON
A LITTLE POOR TASTE WARTIME HUMOR / TOM SCANLAN
THE CLANGING HOUSE / FRANCES DONNELLY
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This is a difficult tale, but I will try to tell it clearly. There was once a land in which every person had to remain in their own home from birth until death, due to a lethal aversion to crossing the threshold of their dwelling. The houses of this land were so far apart from … Continue reading THE CLANGING HOUSE / FRANCES DONNELLY
My father picked up Martin and me for a visit once every couple weeks, on a Sunday after church. Martin was at swim practice, so today I would be with him alone. Any hope of my parents getting back together had diminished a few weeks after Mom’s release when they had seemed so affectionate. “Stop … Continue reading THE WRONG WAY / JAMES MULHERN
On the grass under the trees, a mumbling woman scatters seed for pigeons—whole bags of it— which makes them lazy, trusting, unafraid. She sprinkles her feed, not noticing a squirrel’s torn-off tail—mistaking for a root the skeletal pinion rolled in dirt. She is a merciful god. A pigeon’s wings are bigger than you’d think, the … Continue reading MESSAGE / JOHN THOMAS WETMORE
The school bus chugging away Leaves a cloud of exhaust And a back window of kids Sticking out tongues, or, For braver ones, skinny butts Pressed against cold glass. He watches from the corner Smoking a Camel, hacking blood Into a handkerchief, killing time Before his shift at the airport starts And the diesel smell … Continue reading DIESEL MORNINGS / JOHN ABBOTT
