Category: The Last Word

“Neither Fish Nor Fowl”: A Short Story by Yunya Yang

He knows my name, my real name. Not Katie. Katie is my English name. I came up with it so that people wouldn’t have to be stumped by a name that starts with an “X.” During the uncomfortable pause as people stare at my real name, I will add, “I go by Katie, by the…
Three Flash Fictions: Andrew Tran

Moniker My “friends” kept calling me, Asian. And I was Asian, I am Asian. But they called me Asian as if it were my name. Like it was on my birth certificate, like I’d put it on a resume, or end a love letter that way, or even put it on my tombstone. At first,…
Four Flash Fictions: William C. Blome

Talking I’d been seeing the flashing blue and red lights coming up fast behind me, and so I was soon forced to pull over by a uniformed highway patrol person for speeding. As I groped around in the glove compartment for my registration card, I found and slipped my hand into an orange puppet that…
Flash Essay: “Pervert” by L Scully

I’ve been a pervert for Many Years he says, smiling at us in the backseat. He tells us his wife is with child and that’s why we had to stop for bananas. He wears a blue polyester polo and porn sunglasses to give us a ride. When we get to the sex party it’s a…
“Ten Reasons Why You, as a Country’s President, Should Send a Congratulation Message to a New President of Another Country,” a short story by Zhihui Zou

#10: You need someone to talk to because you have poisoned the tea of all your colleagues. #9: You need to suck up to them because your country has no nukes. #8: You need to remind the public that your country is actually a country and not a joke. #7: You and they share the…
Two Poems by Ori Fienberg, Originally Published in Vol. 10

Novelty Trade Treaties There’s no way to make a profit on a callfor international unity, no way to solve adistribution function without a point of sale;you have to learn to accept, you have tolearn to just say, thank you to thank you;it’s an ill-wind that blows no ships into portto deliver this gentle tyranny of…
Flash Essay: “Land of Promise. Land of Opportunity. Land of Heroes. Land of Greatness” by Ron Burch

Land of Promise. Land of Opportunity. Land of Heroes. Land of Greatness. Land of Freedom. Land of Landowners. Land of Religion. Land of Justice. Land of White Supremacy. Land of Racism. Land of Lies. Land of Intolerance. Land of Theft. Land of Law and Order. Land of Slavery. Land of Nationalism. Land of KKK. Land…
Three Flash Fictions by Stephanie Yu

Polling Error They came in with guns and tactical vests and smoke bombs. Shouting about Valhalla or uhuru or liftoach pandemonium. It became too hard to make out the words above the shelling and spray. It was morning and the weather had just turned. That first cold snap hung the air but the sun still…
Two Mixed Media Images by Lindsey Morrison Grant

*Ed.’s Note: click images to view larger sizes. Mom Orange You Glad I Didn’t Build a Wall Self-identifying as a neurodivergent, two-spirit elder with deep Pacific Northwest roots, Lindsey Morrison Grant’s eclectic journey includes surviving domestic violence, medical gaslighting, heart attacks, cancer, parenthood, and charismatic/evangelical cult involvement. Successful recoveries are attributed to an invaluable support…