Category: Fiction

#80: Fiction by Ibrahim Babátúndé Ibrahim

REPARATION Tebogo hates these trips from their lonely countryside in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, into neighboring towns on Edmund’s cheque expeditions. Well, they were Edmund’s, but he can now say they’re his too, and this further heightens his reservations. His heart races from the first steps out of the house until he’s back again.  Their last […]

#78: Fiction by Lita Kurth

MY HOROSCOPE, AKA SIGNS “Aquarians are subject to sudden ‘Eureka!’ moments that can change everything. The Aquarius man has the trait of a fresh un-blinkered outlook.”1 My horoscope for February 6th was amazingly specific: “There is a place in America where you can buy a one-topping pizza for $4.99. Including delivery. Find it, and you […]

#77: Fiction by Christine Ma-Kellams

PUERTO RICO IS NOT A STATE Rong arrived in San Juan on a bright Saturday in the middle of December. Like other Saturdays throughout Puerto Rico’s unfailing tropical seasons, this one was marked by persistent sunshine that refused to quit, interrupted only occasionally by a gust of ocean. As the plane descended onto the landing […]

#76: Fiction by Thomas Elson

SICK HEADACHE Look closely. You are where it began—at a time before polio shots, seat belts, and television. A time when visitors entered houses through unlocked kitchen doors.  And, after all these years, is it as you remember?  It’s early November, just past dusk. You stop at the corner two blocks east of a grand […]

#75: Fiction by Michael Keenan Gutierrez

THE STILL On their first date, they attend a socially distanced rooftop gala in flapper wear. It’s New Year’s Eve, 2021, Brooklyn. Martha is a pale brunette. Marty is Mexican. She wears a mesh deco dress and T-strap heels, while he’s in a tuxedo, classic and suave, going for a look he calls Tijuana James […]

#73: Fiction by Michèle Gagnon

SINKING At the very beginning, a few incoherences, everyday objects disappearing and suddenly reappearing in unusual places: keys in the fridge, a bag of lemons on the laundry room shelf, hat and scarf in the oven. Then, words failing us to the point that we withdraw ourselves from any conversation, faces fading, friends and relatives […]

#70: Fiction by Hilary Stanton

CHARACTER LIMITS   Age 12 Angela inserts a floppy disk into the drive. “You know that story you wrote last week? I turned it into a text adventure.” She types the run command, then hops out of the folding chair she uses at her computer desk and offers it to Ben. “Try it.” Five inputs […]

#67: Fiction by Becky Tuch

RECONCILIATION   To: TanishaKay@HappyArt.Org May 20, 2020   Hi Tanisha,  I hope this email finds you well. I understand you may not want to hear from me. But I thought I would reach out in the hopes of clarifying some things we did not get a chance to discuss. Perhaps in hearing my side of […]

#64: Fiction by Siamak Vossoughi

THE FARSI TEACHER That fall every one of his students was an American who was married to an Iranian. Lord, but they butchered the language in that class. They came into the classroom like Americans, big and excited, and he knew from their general manner that their mouths were not going to conform to the […]