Category: Fiction

Side A Short Story: “Cynthia Forgiveness Swimmer” by Myles Zavelo

Everyone’s getting wasted at the lake tonight. The train tracks cross over the lake. The moon is making the lake really shiny. Cynthia doesn’t want to be my friend anymore. I’m a little beyond the border of the party. I’m standing with the shadowy bushes. I feel like some freaky creep. I catch Cynthia as…
Restored Fiction: “Slow 9/11” by Dolan Morgan

“Can you describe a time when someone betrayed you?” This question is posed to me by Jan during a round of the Ungame, which I play over lunch with a group of colleagues in our architecture firm on the 92nd floor. The Ungame looks deceptively like Candy Land but is described, in its product materials,…
Original Fiction: “Irish Setter” by Travis Flatt

Mrs. Withers wants to repeat our conversation. Mrs. Withers corners me in the hall. In body language, Mrs. Withers is illiterate. I edge away from Mrs. Withers. “Mrs. Withers” might not be Mrs. Withers’ name, so I’m careful not to call Mrs. Withers “Mrs. Withers.” My father, Mrs. Withers seems to think, and I share…
New Flash Fiction for Side A: “Neighbor Girls” by Niles Baldwin

Neighbor Girls The mother before there were her babies was a child. Before she brought the world her daughter and son, she could remember being born. The first memory after being born was seeing a woman with a person in her belly. She remembered that belly person born too. They grew up together, neighbor girls.…
Flash Fiction for Side A: “The Short History of the Long Road” by Harsimran Kaur

The Short History of the Long Road Some called you golden. Golden as in Kintsugi. Kintsugi as in America. America as in Dear America, what else could you give us? Giving as in holding hands at Thanksgiving and singing a prayer in praise of all the thank yous you’ve garnered over all the seconds in…
“Talk Show Host,” a new hybrid piece for Side A by Chris McCreary

Talk Show Host bombs his monologue. Checks his notes, blinks meaningfully into camera two. Talk Show Host throws his desk out the window. It hits the trampoline, bounces back onto his lap. Talk Show Host puts on his therapist’s cap, but the guests have removed their mics their mouths faces & eyes they’ve receded behind…
“The Bread of Life,” a new short story by Katherine Plumhoff

You start by thanking your lovers. You acknowledge the lessons they taught you, spreading gratitude over your history like dry rub over a roast. You thank Carlos, who taught you how to be positive in the face of something frustrating, i.e. having to pay for three places of accommodation—room in Valencia, rental house in Greece,…
Flash Fiction for Side A: “Anglers” by Dan Shields

Anglers We watch their suns drift like pulp to the bottom of the glass, these days between sleep and the gasp. We skim them like stones on a creek. These days we squat and moan—old tequila worms squirming in the bottle. A big yellow bus scrambles past the bones of a stop. Our stop. The…
New Side A Microfiction: “Opportunity Meets Preparation” by Andrea Marcusa

Opportunity Meets Preparation Why are you throwing out the Valium? They’re expired. I recovered the yellow pharmacy vial from the garbage. Inside, the pills look perfectly pink and round, only the bottle looks cloudy and aged. They are only four years old. You keep aspirin longer. That’s different. My husband likes to be accurate, knows…