She knew how to read a newspaper article when she was five; now she cannot tell Chinese from hieroglyphics.
Fragments of a Meandering Life: Review of A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
Nearly every story in the collection is captivating in its constant motion and minute detail.
Issue 41 Pre-Order Open
Our 41st issue is now available for pre-order online.
Anything that Shines
There’s an our kind and a their kind.
2021 Sudden Fiction Contest Winners!
We're thrilled to announce the winners and honorary mention of our 2021 Sudden Fiction Contest! Read more to find out who won!
Nurture
Out here, she knew, was his sanctuary, away from his daughter’s problems. Here, only these more easily governed fruits of his labor existed.
Bless Me Father
The little bird’s so still, just looking up at me with those robin eyes, just staring like it sees what’s deep inside me, like it’s stunned by the horror of it. I think that’s when I begin to understand: sin’s damn personal.
Trespassing
Whenever they drove past in the car on the way to the next town over, all he saw was a bare expanse of crumbling gray stones stretching out like a long-emptied riverbed behind the warped fencing with all its warnings.
The Jumper and the Gaijin
Nora learns “gaijin” when she hears the teenagers say it. She’s not heard an adult use it, and when it’s said in her proximity the eikaiwa manager turns stern and scolds the student. So while she knows that it means “outsider,” it must mean something else, something a little shameful, the kind of word said only at home.
To Be Generous
When Amy whispered in Russ’s ear that what he wanted her to do would cost him fifty bucks, she meant it to be sexy.
