Fiction
The Spirit Animal
Its black legs tickle her forearm. Go back inside, baby, she coos. Some heads on the F train turn, but barely. New Yorkers don’t give a damn if you’re muttering to yourself, let alone an insect. An elderly gentleman in a grey peacoat peers at her, rather amused. Pet spider? She lowers the volume on […]
When Your Landlord Shuts Off the Water Without Telling You First Because He’s Fixing a Leak in Apt. 43 Right Above You
And all you keep thinking about is the sex you’re not having with people you aren’t dating.
The Waters & the Wild
Gates awoke one morning and knew the truth: his whole life was a mistake. The realization struck like a hammer blow deep inside his brain, and a single word tolled within his skull: failure, failure, failure. He shook his head, but it wouldn’t go away. Somewhere he’d gone off course, taken the wrong fork […]
He’s Not Into Her
I’m not into her, Rach. You need to relax about this. It’s all in your head. We’ve been dating for two years. She shrugs, as if to say, yeah, I guess you’re right, but she still can’t take her eyes off her. Kate is one of those ‘cool girls.’ Shoots shit with the guys. Red […]
An Apartment That Wasn’t An Apartment
They met in an apartment that wasn’t an apartment. But the apartment offered dark corners to lock lips, to grope when nobody was watching. The apartment had steaming cups of hot cocoa on February nights and music to combat lonely Sunday mornings. Look at the sky, baby. What do you see? Looks like the tears […]
Like Honey
Bottom lip is pierced with a small silver hoop; her mouth smells like mangos, and her smile radiates shades of pink, depending on the glow of the sun. Her dresses are long and flowing and carefree; sometimes they fall at her ankles, sometimes they end above her knee. Frame is petite. Not weighed down. Even […]
Acceptance
I vividly remember reading the letter for the first time. As soon as I finished, my girlfriend Amanda came down the stairs of our townhouse fussing about something. It must have really mattered to her because she was visibly angry, her face was red, her tone was aggressive, and her voice was loud. I glanced […]
Great Scott
This writer drank to excess, picked fights at parties, stabbed a spouse. No, not Norman Mailer. Meet Norma Scott.