Principal - 2023 - Short Édition

Creative Nonfiction

Portrait 4 min

Cakes and pies back with love: a recipe for hope in hard times

Christmas presents always took a back seat to certain Christmas foods when I was growing up. My parents gave each child only two presents. When we were young, they were a toy (usually something ... [+]

Short Fiction

Portrait 5 min

Evaporation

Lucy Zhang

Last performance review cycle, I got a "barely meets expectations"—something I could've avoided if I slept with my VP, but I liked to believe I had an unshakeable moral ground. I wouldn't be too sad ... [+]

Short Fiction

2 min

The absence of want

Lu Han

Facebook Status Update: May 1st, 2020
Happy 66th Birthday, Ba! It's the first time we are not celebrating together, but like the rest of the world, we make the best of it. We hang out over Facetime ... [+]

Short Fiction

Slice of Life 2 min

Eldest

Purvi Shah

The phone buzzes.
Mona sends $101 to her younger brother who needs new glasses.
He bought blue frames that sparkled against his brown eyes.
The phone rings and Mona turns back from the hallway ... [+]

Short Fiction

Slice of Life 3 min

Owners, Soon

Jin Kim

It was finally enough. Pablo's bank account finally had the minimum for a down payment for a 30-year mortgage for an outer-borough co-op apartment. "We'll finally own a place," he told his wife ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

The Beating Heart of the World

Cedric Rose

Lola unbungees her violin case from the back of her bike. She removes the lacquered instrument and props her sign in its velvet mouth: MUSIC STUDENT, DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED. Crooking her neck ... [+]

Short Fiction

Portrait 4 min

Cutouts

Marcie Roman

My mother started cutting when I was nine. On Sunday afternoons, she'd sit at the kitchen table arranging coupons into what looked like a coupon-themed game of Solitaire. She'd tuck a few under he ... [+]

Short Fiction

3 min

Planting Instructions

Cameron Walker

Dig a hole the depth of your open palm. The hole needs to be this deep because coins are shiny, and crows like shiny things. Holes should be placed at least 12 inches apart, with three coins per hole ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Come Get It

Mandy Shunnarah

The conversation was repeated so frequently that I can't distinguish one instance from the next. I remember it like this: My mother driving down the part of Fieldstown Road just past the Cracke ... [+]

Short Fiction

Slice of Life 5 min

The Hoard

Matt Goldberg

Back in my bleak days, when I used to wait tables at LongHorn Steakhouse, a scrounger friend of mine called me about an opportunity. Those were the days of busting my hump for meager tips from ... [+]

Short Fiction

Slice of Life 5 min

Ethel Finds Money

Karen Heuler

My adopted sister Ethel sat opposite me at the dinner table, waiting for the food to arrive in the multicolored bowls Mom had gotten long ago, to cheer Ethel up and encourage her to eat. Ethel was ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Rat Race

Katherine Cofer

Leah refreshed her bank account as if that would change the numbers on the screen. The same numbers stared back. Her name had also not appeared no matter how often she refreshed the work ... [+]

Short Fiction

Slice of Life 2 min

The Next Right Thing

John Clark

I saw her drop something when she exited the car and rushed into the office building. The vehicle sped off, twirling what looked like an envelope into the busy street.
I hesitated, should I dash out ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

Not God

Katherine Cart

My big brother left and didn't come back the same, came back with a girlfriend. They live in the upstairs back room now. There's a lot that's changed, a lot of ugly new clothes in the laundry, and I ... [+]

Short Fiction

5 min

Mango Grove

Sarah Batchu

Standing at the gates of Mango Grove, Koti Rao admired the acres of trees. With profits from his silk shop, Koti's father had bought the Grove in 1945, envisioning cultivation as his next venture. As ... [+]

Short Fiction

Slice of Life 4 min

Twenty Dollars

Carla Damron

I tilted my rocker back and blinked into the sun. A whirring fly circled my head. None of my efforts to swat the sucker had worked, so if I wanted to smoke, I'd have to put up with him and the likes ... [+]

Short Fiction

4 min

Scotch 80s

Zachary Kellian

On a bright Nevada morning, weak with wanting and sun-stricken, Matías was reminded of all his dreams. He hadn't dreamt in years; any glimpse of the future had become clouded by the neon-radiation ... [+]

Short Fiction

2 min

Doubloons

Alyson Mosquera Dutemple

Ruth walked away from her laptop, and weeks passed. Just like that. People were angry because she hadn't written them back. Online bills came and went, unpaid. Red marks appeared on her credit score ... [+]