Short Fiction

Is there any ideology, any border, any conflict worth the price of your child?

When Papa brings home a Holstein cow, twelve year old Donald finds an escape from growing up through the twice a day chore of milking Shelf Life.

15%? 20%? You know what you need to pull out of that wallet...

Carson has a horrible secret, but he also has a friend. Because of her he has a chance...

There's nothing like being in the middle of a good jelly donut to inspire Fate to try and thwart you. Lt. Jeff Harris is about to have an unusual day.

Conclusion. On a whim, Aser decided to carry off the remains of a boy to take care of his ghost. A simple enough task, but one thing makes it difficult...

Once they had been afraid, but they fought bravely. Once they had been shut down, but they survived on their wits and their talents. And now...

And sometimes what it's all about isn't what it's all about.

Part four of five. Targold the ghost is about to see something he never imagined in life...

Just me, you, and the elephant in the room...cozy, isn't it?

She could barely walk -- buses are made for those in pain, aren't they?

Part Three of Five. Sometimes a journey goes quicker when there is company -- even if you have to carry him in a sack...

The invasion! Only one being could stop the annihilation of the world...

Apocalyptic prose from a prophet of liberation...

Part Two of Five. A child, forgotten and alone, yearns for someone to talk with. Does it matter if he's dead?

Children know nothing of factions or politics. Why must we teach them to take sides, when all we have to do is find food and shelter together?

Aunt Cecilia lived longer than the family thought she would, and kept them guessing until the very end...

Part One of Five. The traveling shaman Aser finds more at the edge of field than a good night's sleep...

Did Great Grandma Tilly lose a valuable ring? Is this young narrator marrying into a genuinely crazy family?

Laureen Vonnegut is an American writer living between Romania and Mexico. Her novel, <i>OASIS</i>, was launched in New York by literary press Counterpoint/Perseus Books. Last year her newest novel, <i>TWIN LIES</i>, was published by Skorpion Press and is read in book clubs from Alaska to Romania.

The bigger they are...

One of the stages of grief is anger. Sometimes you don't even know its depth until you've acted upon it...

Ahern says of himself: "Returning to writing after having spent most of a lifetime doing other things. Original wife, two children, five grandchildren. Have matriculated through almost all of my earlier vices and sins (if it's other than hard drugs, I've probably attempted it). A pleasantly haphazard life."

You met this guy at the bus stop, didn't you? I think I met him, too...

"What are the things one damaged man contemplates when it comes to the end of the world?"

James Noguera has published short stories and poems online, such as in The WiFiles, The World of Myth, and The Piker Press. He has an MFA from City College of New York. He lives in the Bronx and isn't scared.

Sometimes you have to leave the past behind. And yet there are other times that what we find in our memories helps us discover again what joy and forgiveness are all about...

Ken Goldman, former Philadelphia teacher of English and Film Studies, is an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association. His stories have appeared in over 700 independent press publications in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Australia, with over thirty due for publication in 2014.

Change is inevitable. But at the pinnacle of the perfect summer, changes aren't always what you think they'll be...

Author's note: In Canada, rates of violent crime are relatively low; murders and abductions generate significant media attention and mobilize impressive deployments of law enforcement agencies. However, the lack of inquiry into the disappearance of over 500 First Nations women remains a contentious issue between First Nations people and the Canadian government.