He knew the room was empty. He’d registered the dirty cream walls and scuffed floorboards. There wasn’t even dust. Disgusted, he’d closed the door and waited. Now this petite spitfire of an investigator had turned up and wanted in. Didn’t they trust him? Eloquent in his silence, he opened the …
The Ed
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A set of azure eyes pierced through the whirling mist, penetrating my skin already stinging from the icy vapor. How fast the world had become a foggy haze. How quickly my surroundings had vanished into eerie nothingness. And yet the eyes still shone through, cold and steely, unaffected by the …
I could hear him. He was right behind me now; close, so very close. My footsteps echoed loudly through the damp, mildew-ridden abandoned tunnels. My legs ached as I pushed myself to go faster. My breathing was nothing more than ragged gasps that pulled painfully at my chest, my lungs …
All through the new year our coven of prophets have gathered, consulting their oracles of bone and fowl innards. From the pool of unlikely heroes a winner has emerged. Congratulations to: Jason Fink! Jason’s piece won in a photo finish, scraping across the line with several fine submissions in tow. …
The Mayan Threat By Nathan Boole Allen stumbled from the trees toward the research base’s dirt yard, Jill’s limp form slung over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry. His thighs burned with fatigue, and his knees threatened to give way before he reached the small bungalow. He forced himself …
The Great Eventually By Tashiina Buswa That night she dreamt, a side effect of the deep sleep her body wasn’t used to. In the dream Griffin was glowing, fluorescent. She watched him walk in stop-start motion to the river in Tennessee. He tested its surface with a naked foot. Upon …
Writing on the Walls By Sherry Landow Rain water spits at my words, steadily washing the fresh black ink down the concrete wall. It collects at my boots, gutter froth, word broth, before seeping down the lamp-lit street. Gott ist tot Es lebe die Freiheit Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, …
Et Responde Mihi By Joey To I was enveloped by the darkness once again. The coolness was almost soothing despite those last words ‘Answer me if you can’ were echoing in me. I glanced at the chronometer but it was flickering. I then checked my oxygen supply. The gauge was …
Rin Tin Tin Soldiers by Aaron Maltz The famous adage, delivered in a whisper on hands and knees by Union general William Tecumseh Sherman, to the brute that snored like a drunken father in every man’s psyche: “War is hell.” Those words, necessary yet futile, were a plea from a …
Persistence By Cassie Kosarek I turn a corner to lose It. Lose, cruise, fuse. I hear Its nails shuffle and double against the concrete behind me. Again, the stinking breath bursts against my hairline. Dr. Mann was a wolfman; Mom was a bird; everyone lied. Everyone lies. Even Jesus couldn’t …
Tattooed and Tattered By Holly Riordan My palms grazed the glass Katy was standing behind before she disappeared—before I betrayed her and let the time-tube suck her into the past. The drifters in the otherwise abandoned shack glared. They must’ve wondered why a teenager would shove his ravishing girlfriend into …
Al Mafouda (“The Lost”) By Jason Fink My head hurt, but I would live. I took another pull on the black lung cigarette; it did not taste the same. Maybe the Americans were right. Fucking Americans. I knew that this response was one that had been ingrained in me, …
So it seems the criteria for the MATA HARI was more difficult then I thought. Maybe it was the left of field concept of the ‘fake obit’ that threw people, or maybe there’s a bit of overkill with the ROSA, YOUTH, and MATA HARI all going off within a …
The votes have been cross referenced, double checked, and verified by our science division. All that remains is to announce our winner. Congratulations to: Sherry Landow! Sherry’s piece, ‘This way’ , impressed with its focus and originality. Our judges remarked that it contained ‘damned powerful imagery that makes me want …
This is only submission for the MATA HARI Award that made the short list (out of six). As such, Nathan has been awarded the win by default. Joan of Arc by Nathan Boole LA PUCELLE, Jeanne, a resident of Domremy, France expired Monday, May 30th, 1431. No funeral services will be …
This week we asked each of our authors to weigh in with what their song choices meant for them. Aaron Maltz on ‘Seeing Red’ My earliest interactions with pot culture, the rite of passage described in “Seeing Red,” began in 1992 as a junior high school student living in …
There’s a lot you probably don’t know about Nadia Lee. She’s swum with sting rays, for example. She’s a globe trotter who has lived in four different countries and speaks two and a half languages. She writes in English, of course. Romance and Fantasy are Nadia’s game. Her Ever After …
This is a short list submission for the YOUTH Award Control by Nathan Boole “You ever get stuff stuck in your head?” “Why don’t you put the gun down, Jim?” he begs. “You don’t have to do this.” I shoot him in the face. The gun roars and sends a …
This is a short list submission for the YOUTH Award Seeing Red by Aaron Maltz I exhaled and a hum like thunder flooded my temples. I looked over at Cliff, whose shrinking eyes appeared pre-occupied with the ground. He seemed lost in thought before breaking out in song. “I want …
This is a short list submission for the YOUTH Award Purgatory High by Joey To After almost three hours, the glaring lights were irritating but he was nearly there. Jack knew the answer to the last question and quickly wrote it down before closing the booklet. Done. Once released, other students …