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Cover art by warmtail / Adobe Stock Image
Dec. 2022 (Issue 86)
Nonfiction
Editorial: December 2022
In this issue’s short fiction, Victor Forna takes us on a search for home in “Parebul of the Mother, Asked in Moonlight,” and something allures from beyond in Jennifer R. Donohue’s “Into the Dark”; in flash fiction, Jennifer Hudak gives a taste of preserved magic in “Sturgeon Moon Jam,” and Sam Kyung Yoo draws a daring, imaginative escape in “The End of a Painted World”; for poetry, we have “Luminous” by Timmi Sanni and “What Chimerae Read” by Mary Soon Lee. Plus essay “All the King’s Women: Annie Wilkes is the Mother Goddess of Cocaine” by Big Girl (PM Press) and Number One Fan (Mira) author Meg Elison. Enjoy!
Flash Fiction
The End of a Painted World
Flaming orange tongues devour the walls around us. The soldiers outside batter at the old wooden doors of the back entrance. Gingko holds fast, the ornate mural of gingko tree branches and golden leaves glowing like painted sunshine.
Nonfiction
Editorial: December 2022
In this issue’s short fiction, Victor Forna takes us on a search for home in “Parebul of the Mother, Asked in Moonlight,” and something allures from beyond in Jennifer R. Donohue’s “Into the Dark”; in flash fiction, Jennifer Hudak gives a taste of preserved magic in “Sturgeon Moon Jam,” and Sam Kyung Yoo draws a daring, imaginative escape in “The End of a Painted World”; for poetry, we have “Luminous” by Timmi Sanni and “What Chimerae Read” by Mary Soon Lee. Plus essay “All the King’s Women: Annie Wilkes is the Mother Goddess of Cocaine” by Big Girl (PM Press) and Number One Fan (Mira) author Meg Elison. Enjoy!
Fiction
Poetry
What Chimerae Read
The fables, fantasies, facts, figures / of their disparate discordant parts
Author Spotlight
Author Spotlight: Victor Forna
I started my writing journey with poems. I think mostly in poetry when creating, though I believe different stories crave different styles and structures. My favourite things to read, or be inspired by, use a perfect blend of prose and poetic techniques. And I try my best to listen to the story I am working on, its different parts, and do whatever they demand of me.
Flash Fiction
Sturgeon Moon Jam
Once a year, during the Sturgeon Moon, a house appears off Seven Mile Line Road in the heart of Chickasee County. Native grasses surround it, thick and tall, protecting the house and its sprawling kitchen garden from view. The being who lives inside the house calls herself Helga Tillinger when she manifests here.
Poetry
Luminous
/ than anything else—cold hands, wild shrieks, / dark fog raging in the air.
Fiction
Author Spotlight
Author Spotlight: Jennifer R. Donohue
It is innocuous and normal to think, “I miss my friend, I hope that I see her again, maybe we’ll patch things up,” but when it turns out the friend has passed away . . . well it’s still normal to miss them, anyway. Less so, when their posthumous letter says “trust me,” to actually trust them. I think it’s also unfortunately normal to still have regrets and what ifs. What if I had reached out sooner, or at all? Did they know how much I cared?
Nonfiction
All the King’s Women: Annie Wilkes is the Mother Goddess of Cocaine
Annie Wilkes is standing at the foot of the bed, sledgehammer in her hand. From certain angles, the hammer looks like an axe. From certain angles, she reminds you of your mother. When she speaks, you hear the voice of your dealer. When she looks down at you, she’s every undeniable mouth-breather who’s ever trapped you in a conversation you could not escape.
