Category: Fiction

“Beans”: A Haunted Passages Flash Fiction by Eli S. Evans

In Nebraska, the cows are all standing close together, but as there are various reasons for which cows might choose to stand close together, I do not know the reason the cows in Nebraska are all standing close together; later, in Iowa, the cows are all standing far apart, but as there are various reasons…
A Short Story for Haunted Passages: “Room 625” by George Choundas

A man sits in a double-parked car with a sign in the window reading, Room625 The sign attracts attention. A room for rent at the rate of $625 a month is a steal. The rental market in, near, and around the city is a sustained explosion. People will approach the car, point at the sign,…
Fiction for Bad Survivalist: “The Cheese Wheel Race” by Will Musgrove

Shirtless, you stare down the steep, grassy hill. At the bottom, men dressed as referees wait to catch you and the other competitors. Swinging the cheese wheel between bent knees, the mayor practices his launch. You scan the crowd for your personal trainer Terry. All week, he had you rolling and tumbling. He’d sneak up…
Original Side A Short Story: “Fresh Start” by Jane Snyder

Fresh Start When the car broke down, Doug said it was the fan belt. It wasn’t a bad place to be, if it had to happen, close to a plasma center and a Union Gospel Mission. We’ll give plasma now, he said, then we’ll go to the Mission. Dakota asked why, if we’re getting…
Haunted Passages Fiction: “My Acting Years” by James Pate

My acting years grew new things in me. They gave me unfamiliar words to work my mouth around with each incoming script. They lent me names through which I could expose the more fleeting instances of myself. That I was often anonymous-seeming and lacking in talent only boded well for me. If most people are…
An Excerpt from Danny Joseph’s Shortish Novel Danny the Ambulance

Danny the Ambulance is a novel about a man who walks into a bar and over the course of the night realizes everyone in the bar is named Danny. The Jury Room feels like a long thin unendurable shack and the rain pouring down overtop has the cadence and impact of tiny hammers falling on…
The Future Has Fiction: “Inside of a Dog, It’s Too Dark to Read” by David Ebenbach

1. Vulcan whimpered a little and then she let out a tentative yap. It was starting to get pretty warm in the lander. 2. There had been no good reason to send a dog to Venus, but that’s one of the interesting things about humans: we invented reasons in the first place, but, upon doing…
New Haunted Passages Flash Fiction: “First Night” by Sarah Daly

It was 1:00 a.m., the pizza was gone, the homework was not finished, and there was nothing on TV. Jay was staying at Cody’s that night. They were both in eighth grade and there were no adults present. In fact, it was Jay’s first time on his own. Jay’s mother had left him there, on…
Original Short Fiction from The Future: “Hard Boiled Ovaries” by Marty B. Rivers

Xiang Lee arrived home from work greeted by his Siamese cat, perched on the kitchen counter. “I’m hungry. Feed me.” Xiang blinked, looked at the cat, “Did you just speak, Toshiko?” “I’m hungry,” repeated Toshiko, pacing. “Feed me. I want sardines.” Toshiko then screamed a baby-cry of dissatisfaction. Wide-eyed and trembling from what Xiang considered…