Deposition Answer Fragments Jeffrey H. MacLachlan __________ Q: State your name.A: Mary Q: Are you on medication?A: Yes, citalopram and Q: Describe the night in question.A: Leaves were corpse-crisp and ticking Q: How long did you work for Camp Crystal Lake?A: Since I turned sixteen Q: Nothing happened those first…
Read Moreafter-midnight umbra Jill Kitchen __________ brick brownstone painted red on a busy avenue, top floor open to brooklyn sky. from the roof, a wovencityscape of other rooftops, other chimneys, the scent of tar. manhattan’s lower skyline small enough tohold in a hand, catch fireworks in july. spiral staircase a tremble…
Read MoreDay of the Dead Deron Eckert __________ All the witches tell me the veil is thin,but all I can see from this side of the veilare the jack-o’-lantern’s innards coatedin a piceous film of speckled mold. Thisformerly spherical fellow’s eyes are windowsto a shallow void of nothingness. Supposeit’s not nothingness.…
Read MoreThe Ticking Clock Joseph L. Bensinger __________ The clock repeats its iron song,its pendulum a patient blade.The hours march, unbroken, strong,through shadow’s hush and daylight’s fade. Yet something waits between each chime,a silence thick, a breath held fast.The pause extends, distorting time,as if the next might be the last. Each…
Read MoreA Capital Idea Abbie Doll __________ We hopped on the bus with a tremendous buzz in the air—this collective hum hovering there—accompanied by that marvelous jailbreak feeling only a field trip can bring. The chaperones stood at the front clutching their clipboards as they stumbled through rollcall, attempting to chisel…
Read MoreField Notes Itto & Mekiya Outini __________ “I don’t think you is who you says you is,” is the first thing Everett says to me, his eyes like shards from broken bottles scattered under streetlamps, only there are no streetlamps here, just a sickly half-moon rising from a knot of…
Read MoreSkin Contact Zachary Bos __________ The deep ravine slashes through the Pennsylvania woods like a wet, stony wound. Halting her hike along the narrow streambed, Valeria Calderón tugs her bandana back into position. She squints to see where to step among the tumbled rocks and clumps of sedge and catbrier.…
Read MoreRosemount Manor Sacha Bissonnette __________ It was the first weekend of July when Sam, Josie, and Buddy met under the maple tree next to the battered shed in Sam’s backyard. They went over the juice-stained checklist Josie pulled out of her bag. Flashlights? Check. Snacks? Check. Three Walkie-Talkies? Check. They…
Read MoreThe Box on West 129th Street Stephen Kramer Avitabile __________ No one ever moved that dusty old box on West 129th Street. Everyone ignored it, hopingsomeone else would make it their problem. But there it sat, collecting dust, blocking everyone’sway as they traveled up and down the sidewalk, unable to…
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