“Capital Story” by Nick Sweeney

“I am an Albanian,” the man said, and drew me out of a daydream. He looked at my face, which was trustworthy and kind, or so people had often said in their descriptions of me. I took in his sharp chin shaved blue, and his eyes the colour of keys. His ivory teeth presented an […]

“Frankie” by Warren Moore

None of us were too surprised when we heard about Frankie. I mean, he wasn’t exactly a Jeopardy contestant to start with, or even Wheel of Fortune, and that was before he got overcome by fumes in that silo up by Jasper, and that was before we found him passed out under the trailer’s front […]

“Mr. Sparkles” by David Rachels

Everyone needs a go bag, but it’s one of those things that you keep putting off and then the day comes when you actually need it and HOLY SHIT you wish you hadn’t kept putting it off. At least I had gotten around to buying a bag, a $50 gym bag with a shoulder strap […]

“Voices” by Jack Dann

I was carefully papering the balsa-wood wing struts of my scale-model Gotha G-V Bomber when Crocker asked me if I ever spoke to dead people. Although Crocker is a member of the Susquehanna River Model-makers and Sex Fiends Association (which doesn’t say much because all you have to do to become a member is hang-out […]

“The Short Tale of Msgr. Pigeon” by John McCann

My first thought was, “How the hell did that thing get all the way down here?” I was sitting on a bench, several stories underground, waiting for the Warminster Line to take me home when I noticed a fat, black-throated pigeon hopping around looking for specks of food. The bird had two legs but only […]

“Hollywood Homicide in the Seventies: The Snake and Bake Murder” by Steve Hodel

I applied at city hall for both LAPD and the sheriff’s department. Two weeks after I had passed both entrance exams and had been rejected by the sheriff’s department at the in-person interview for being too young, I was called in for my oral at LAPD. That went better. I fit their job description as […]

Lithographs by Ann Chernow

Lithographs by Ann Chernow, each from one stone, 17″ x 22″. All work copyright Ann Chernow. All rights reserved. Ann Chernow’s work has been exhibited at many galleries around the globe including : Hubert Gallery, Uptown Gallery and 220 Gallery in New York City, Odetta Gallery in Brooklyn, N.Y. .Lessedra Gallery in Sophia, Bulgaria, The […]

“What Dora’s Daughter Did” by Charles Rammelkamp

“I mean, I know her from the neighborhood,” the woman in the manager’s kiosk at the supermarket said to the lady on the other side of the counter. “But I don’t know know her.” I was loitering by the freezer with the weekly frozen food deals. Stouffer’s Frozen French Bread Pizza, Healthy Choice Grilled […]

“Honky-Tonk Nights” by Robert Cooperman

Scottie always drank longnecks: easy to smash a guy hassling him or making a move on his woman, who wasn’t necessarily his wife, though Loretta didn’t have to know that, except she always did, when he staggered in skanky with beer and perfume fumes. Too much effort to throw him out or leave him: […]

“Whiplash Redemption” by Mark Krajnak

Ashes to ashes, Dust to dust. Everything dies, baby. Both the wicked and the just. That would be a true little ditty, ain’t it? The question is, what do you do with that time between the cradle and the pine box. Are you a productive member of society . . . Or are you […]