Abigail Pfeifer

DJ Woodring It was a nice day. It always was, at the blue house. Which people said was odd. Off-putting, even. But there it was. The sun was shining down on the tall grass, which was waving in a polite breeze, sending an earthy, pollen smell up to the porch and across the road to…

DJ Woodring It was a strange thing, to take a night job when you were afraid of the dark. It was a strange thing to be afraid of the dark at all, when you were almost twenty, but there you have it. But times were hard, and the lighthouse wasn’t going to tend to itself,…

Abigail Pfeifer They’re waiting on me. I’m late and I need to leave now, but I’ve sunken into the floor, the foundation, the earth below. It’s all too heavy to push off. I can’t move.  “Get up,” Dad says.  I can’t move. The sofa cushion below me is damp with drool.  He jabs my shoulder.…

Jacob Keiser For dinner, there are tubers, some yellow with flakes of pastel pink, and the rest are deep purple. Their skins are soft, and several have split, spilling steam that smells of heavenly dirt. Abuelito is standing over me. He puts a third potato on my plate and commands me to eat.  “Listen, or…

Reese Beebe I only have one secret. It’s the thing that comes in the night. As I lie flat on my mattress, I expect her. I brace myself for her warm breath, her cool touch, the way she hovers over the ground, footsteps so light they do not seem to exist. I study the grooves…

Wynn Wilkinson I am driving back from El Paso & have been for three hours. You are quiet; you are letting me drive because the road is open & flat & empty or something, & I am grateful you’re letting me focus on the sun dipping in the rearview, restraining yourself from commenting on my…

Amanda N.C. He tasted it before he felt it. James’s eyes swelled with tears as he stumbled back, barely catching himself. The clatter of his wooden blade hitting the dry hard ground was lost to him as the taste of iron filled his mouth. Like wildfire, the pain began to spread from the spark that…

Reese Beebe “I mean, don’t you ever think about shaving your head?” I ask, hugging my knees to my chest on the fitting room bench.  Margaret looks at me through the mirror. A brief glance, then back to the dress she pulls over her chest.  “No. Not really. Zip?” She sweeps her hair to one…

Reese Beebe She is not yet awake. Dawn sprinkles rose-colored light into the room. The sunrise brushes her freckled skin, creating a luminescent glow upon her face. We lie on the floor and my eyes study her, but hers do not even flicker. She’s a late sleeper. Or perhaps I am just an early riser,…