Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who was stolen by a terrible necromancer. He and his rotting, clanking horde abducted her from the palace gardens and carried her away and away until
...
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Short Fiction
Poetry
Polyamory in Theory
Children's
Bronnie and the Great Green Two-Headed Plague Dragon
Bronagh's mother watched her toying with her food.
"Sit up straight, Bronnie," she chided, "and finish your dinner. Your father's ready to read you a story."
"I don't want to."
"Well, if you'd ... [+]
"Sit up straight, Bronnie," she chided, "and finish your dinner. Your father's ready to read you a story."
"I don't want to."
"Well, if you'd ... [+]
Short Fiction
Portrait
4 min
All the Spiders
Colonel Mathura beckons me forward, but the balcony is a maw with a balustrade of marble teeth. The crowd devours me with their cheers. I shuffle forward to be consumed by their support. The midday
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Poetry
Contemporary
1 min
A Man Alone
Creative Nonfiction
Where Have You Gone, Chu Hua?
I met Mia for the first time at my tennis club. A small Chinese woman with dark brown eyes and short-cropped black hair, she greeted me with a heavy Chinese accent.
"Are you Ken?" she asked.
To my ... [+]
"Are you Ken?" she asked.
To my ... [+]
Short Fiction
A Bunch of Early Mimosas
"So, you're happy, huh?" he says in disbelief.
He asks me this question several times during our two-hour get-together, trying to understand how I could feel so much happier about my life than he ... [+]
He asks me this question several times during our two-hour get-together, trying to understand how I could feel so much happier about my life than he ... [+]
Poetry
Plum Island
The summers aren't so lonely on Plum Island.
It's me, the plum trees, the plum birds,
and the ... [+]
It's me, the plum trees, the plum birds,
and the ... [+]
Children's
Seasick Vick
Vicky was a Viking,
one as brave as brave could be.
On land she was a legend,
but she didn't like the sea.
Boats made Vicky queasy
and the waves made her feel yuck.
She'd rather not go ... [+]
one as brave as brave could be.
On land she was a legend,
but she didn't like the sea.
Boats made Vicky queasy
and the waves made her feel yuck.
She'd rather not go ... [+]
Short Fiction
Tints and Hues
Bellatrix Sakakino worked for a commercial bank, focusing on securities valuation and research, and nobody liked her. This was because of her tints and hues. The colors emanating from her person were
...
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Poetry
Contemporary
1 min
Beyond the Bridge
Creative Nonfiction
Reflection
1 min
Falling into New Year
Autumn's here—Happy New Year!
Not for me, that pallid substitute in January with its noisemakers and forgotten resolutions. My calendar resets annually with the opening of classroom doors, no ... [+]
Not for me, that pallid substitute in January with its noisemakers and forgotten resolutions. My calendar resets annually with the opening of classroom doors, no ... [+]
Short Fiction
Portrait
2 min
The Night My Father Danced Like Gene Kelly
Dapper in a topcoat and tails, feet moving fast and graceful as birds skimming still waters, he whirled and swooped, catching my mother, still young and slim, by the waist, bending her backward. She
...
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Poetry
Contemporary
1 min
Mid-American Back Roads
Short Fiction
Brick Room
Sarah feels bricked up, even though she's riding her bike. She feels caged, because of where she's riding her bike: to a coffee shop to meet an ex she's not sure she wants to meet. He called her to
...
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Short Fiction
A Stranger’s Time
I've never been less than an hour early for my train. I don't know if it comes from a sense of heightened preparedness or an ongoing current of anxiety that doesn't even let me sleep in on weekends
...
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Poetry
Contemporary
1 min
The Way Things Tend to Happen Sometimes
With a bit of whistling and a roll of the wrist
I slipped into some rusty overalls to go ... [+]
I slipped into some rusty overalls to go ... [+]
Short Fiction
The Girl in the Tree
Tracy Jo Freely climbed a tree one day. A plum tree. The big plum tree at the end of Miro Street.
"When are you coming back down?" her parents asked her an hour later.
"Never," said Tracy Jo.
He ... [+]
"When are you coming back down?" her parents asked her an hour later.
"Never," said Tracy Jo.
He ... [+]
Short Fiction
Separation
He couldn't say exactly when it fell off, was sometime during the night when he was asleep. But when he woke up in the morning, the ring finger of his left hand was off, tucked underneath the pillow
...
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