Original Archives - Page 17 of 46

Fiction

The caveat is that I’m going to lie to you. That’s how confessions work, isn’t it? There are those things that even though we want to confess, we can’t confront, and so we talk around. Lying isn’t even second nature; it’s our primary condition. The best I can do is tell you the truth about when I’ve lied. Let’s start at the beginning. I come from a deep and worn-out notch on the Bible Belt, the only child of Peter and Trudy Cadigan. Well, no. You’d need only look at the graves to know that’s not entirely true.

In Nov. 2022 (Issue 122)

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- Narrated by:
  
  Stefan Rudnicki
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Poetry

Ritual

by Okwudili Nebeolisa

This poem is inspired by what I call “the miracle industry” in Nigeria, where pastors carry out exorcisms on their congregations. Because I have been taken to certain pastors to supposedly cast away demons inhabiting me, I thought of writing a poem mocking pastors who engage in that act.

In Oct. 2022 (Issue 121)

Fiction

The Ghost Eaters

by Spencer Ellsworth

Author spotlight

The Man had come and gone, other Someones too, and all the lessers, but Barley still guarded the House. He still patrolled, passing right through the gate instead of getting caught under the slats, still lifted his nose and trotted the fence line every morning, though he could no longer smell the asphalt baking in the heat or rabbits in the hedges. At sundown he returned to his grave and lifted his leg even though he hadn’t urinated since the Man put his body in a cardboard box and dropped it into foot-deep earth.

In Oct. 2022 (Issue 121)

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- Narrated by:
  
  Stefan Rudnicki
- Duration:
  
  30:34
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Fiction

Sharp Things, Killing Things

by A.C. Wise

Author spotlight

We saw the first billboard while driving along Lake Road. We’d driven the road a hundred times before, because it was the only road out of town that went anywhere worth going, and there was fuck-all to do in town except get drunk, get stoned, and get in trouble. Lake Road let us go ice fishing in the winter. Lake Road let us go camping in the summer. Lake Road let us drive and pretend like we would keep going, like one day we would get out for good.

In Oct. 2022 (Issue 121)

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- Narrated by:
  
  John Allen Nelson
- Duration:
  
  37:13
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Poetry

much to be mourned

by Corey Niles

While jogging in the woods, I was thinking about a past relationship, attempting to locate the first warning sign that it wasn’t going to end well. I came across a lake, and looking at the water, this awful memory resurfaced. I wrote the poem on the trail, expecting to heavily revise it, but something about the memory, without any exaggerations or literary illusions, seemed more unsettling.

In Sep. 2022 (Issue 120)

Fiction

Concerning the Upstairs Bathroom

by Kiera Lesley

Author spotlight

Congratulations on the purchase of your new home! I’m sorry to inform you I was not very upfront with the terms of sale and would feel guilty if I didn’t leave at least this letter in forewarning. You might have wondered why it was listed so cheaply or why, beyond a lawyer’s details, there wasn’t a name on the seller’s side of the contract. You might have dismissed these anomalies because the patio is so nice (the jasmine over the pergola smells lovely in spring).

In Sep. 2022 (Issue 120)

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- Narrated by:
  
  Stefan Rudnicki
- Duration:
  
  18:21
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Fiction

A Girl of Nails and Teeth

by Hannah Yang

One thing I find fascinating about parenthood is the fact that protecting your children too tightly from the monsters in the world can sometimes become, in itself, a monstrous act. I wanted to write a story with this kind of double vision, where viewed through one lens, the mother is protecting her daughter, but viewed through another lens, the mother is hurting her daughter, and it’s hard to say for certain which version is true.

In Sep. 2022 (Issue 120)

Fiction

The Gold Coin

by Clara Madrigano

Author spotlight

She remembered the day Sophie’s grandmother told her about the gold coin. The gold coin existed only if you were paying attention. It existed only during certain times of the day. Above all, it existed only in Mrs. Meecham’s living room, next to the sofa covered with quilts, near the stairs that would lead you to the rooms above. On one of the walls in the living room, there was a small stained-glass window forming the image of a benevolent lady sitting by a garden.

In Sep. 2022 (Issue 120)

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- Narrated by:
  
  Roxanne Hernandez
- Duration:
  
  54:31
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Poetry

Around the Corners

by Jarod K. Anderson

Struggling with lifelong mental health issues means I’ve heard a lot of suggestions from folks who seem to think I’ve overlooked any number of simple remedies. It often reminds me of the confidence on display when, while watching a horror movie, some viewers are just so certain that they would make smarter, quicker, braver decisions than the characters on screen. How calm and bold and logical they would be while surviving the deadly threats.

In Aug. 2022 (Issue 119)

Fiction

The Arm Ouroboros

by Adam-Troy Castro

Author spotlight

I take the hammer in my right hand and raise it up over my head to bring down, screaming, against the left hand I have placed flat on the tabletop. My knuckles do not break. My skin does not tear. I do not scream in agony. Instead, my left hand flattens like soft rubber, the imprint of the hammer’s head clearly visible in what is supposed to be human flesh. The sight is worse than any pain could possibly be.

In Aug. 2022 (Issue 119)