Self-Portrait
By Fiction Issue 123
I was only twenty, driven by a dreamy conviction that life would unfold exactly the way I wanted. Others told me I floated through the world. This they said with a mixture of pity and scorn. I didn’t know what they meant; I’m still not sure I do.
Read MoreDimensions Unknown: A Novel Excerpt
By Fiction Issue 123
In December of 2022, adrift (again) and staying with my parents, I found among my grandmother’s papers a sealed envelope addressed to me.
Read MoreThis Is Not My Son’s Head
By Fiction Issue 122
How do you remember a part of your life when it freezes up on you, when it makes a living corpse of you and you walk through your days dragging your feet, scarcely noticing anything around you.
Read MoreThe World to See: A Novel Excerpt
By Fiction Issue 122
Nadine swiveled toward the oddly familiar voice, seeking a face. All she saw at first were bare feet propped on an armrest.
Read MoreEarthly Delights
By Fiction Issue 122
Apparently, thank God, they have a tour guide, swaying upright, a column of shining, jeweled scales. The guide investigates them with faceted, ravenous eyes.
Read MoreThe Dead Zone
By Fiction Issue 121
Dad passed away overnight. It was a message from my ex-husband.
Read MoreThis Is the Gate of the Lord; the Righteous Shall Enter Through It
By Fiction Issue 121
We are entering in reverse order of our deaths. You don’t need to translate this.
Read MoreThe Sun in Slender Glass: A Novel in Excerpt
By Fiction Issue 121
Somewhere on this parched estate a beggar is looking for me. So says the boy.
Read MoreThe Dragon Can’t Eat You When You’re Dancing
By Fiction Issue 120
Olive doesn’t know why she’s rushing to the brick building with the barred windows and parquet basement floor, and this is itself a kind of proof of urgency.
Read MoreFrom Until the Victim Becomes Our Own
By Fiction Issue 120
They had set up tents. Not all; some had a few blankets thrown down and were lying on them. Often there was a man with a woman and child on each blanket. It seemed a little odd to me, because some had dug a hole and built a shallow shelter with the blanket on top. It might get very windy and cold at night.
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