FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2026 · This week's fiction · Submit a story →

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Without Rescue

Once, while she was drowning, I saw her head break the surface for a moment.She sat on the living room floor as she told me she wanted to leave him, but his family would never allow it. “Marriage is for life.” I froze.…

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Indian Rock

He always felt well situated, close to the wisdom of the stream, the empathy of trees and foliage, the warmth of squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks as they stopped in the shadow of his girth. He hadn’t moved in eons, but his…

  • Apr 24, 2026

    First Bridge on the Forth [Scottish rail bridge, built 1890, 73 deaths]

    “Eh, naw, lad.” Queensferry Mack spat into the water. “Ye’ll no be gettin a brig ayean they waters. There’s seventy men’ll die afore ever ye span the Forth.” The engineer laughed. “We’re pretty good at building bridges…

  • Apr 23, 2026

    At Broad and Samson Streets

    I watched the blind beggar drag himself into the shadow at Broad and Samson, settling where the noise funneled toward him. His cup rested, catching coins by sound alone. Each drop told him something, the quick spin of a…

  • Jan 26, 2022

    The Man Goes Walkabout Only in His Mind

    John often scheduled trips, then changed his mind at the last minute. He’d spend hours looking at maps, photos of diners, old railway stations, Post Offices covered in kudzu, and haunted hotels (where he liked to stay).…

  • Jan 26, 2022

    THE CRITIC

    Aiden was a rising literary critic, renowned for his fearless iconoclasm. Twain, Whitman, Kerouac, Emily Dickinson: no one was safe, the living with the dead. On the eve of the publication of his first book, Aiden…

  • Jan 26, 2022

    Conversations With Death

    Every night, I roll over to face the empty side of my bed. In varying levels of distress, I call out to a friend. My busy friend always stops by for our chat. I beg. I plead. I offer. It’s when I attempt bribery Death…

  • Jan 26, 2022

    Pushing Grief Aside

    It was difficult to attend her friend’s baby shower. How could she be joyous when she had just lost her own? Little Chloe was delivered prematurely. Her little lungs were not mature enough for her to survive. Tina had…

  • Jan 2, 2022

    Sam Adams Met the Girl of His Dreams Based on a True Story  

    Sam Adams met Maria his wife in a dream. The dream started in high school when he fell asleep in a physics class and saw the most beautiful woman in the world staring at him. He yelled out, “who are you?”…

  • Jan 2, 2022

    Ursus in Reverie

    Alone, I sit silently searching for poachers. Something murmurs at the far edge of hearing. An underground spring, or perhaps a wood nymph? This rifle seems an intrusion in this magical space, but…

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