“The birds are always watching,” Mama used to say. We had a bird cage in nearly every room of the house. The parakeets in the living room seemed more at home than I did. The lovebirds in the kitchen reminded everyone how bonded they were every time you tried to make...
The bruises bloom like purple flowers. Hibiscus perhaps. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. The marks will fade to a deep blue. Like cineraria. Cineraria senetti. After that, a sickly yellow. Tansy. Tanacetum vulgare. You recite the names in your head, your mouth forming...
I named her Christina. She began as they all did—a greasy secretion that shimmered and then solidified into a milky coat of wax. It reminded me of the hospital where we were only allowed to write with crayons because you couldn’t puncture someone’s larynx with a...
We made some hard choices to create this shortlist for the Gods and Monsters Challenge! Congratulations to these writers! We'll choose a winner by next week! Shortlist: It's a Monster, Baby Return Barnacle Moon Tokoloshe From Clay, God China Plate What the Bones...
Check out the titles of these 20 stories! Congrats to all of our short-listed writers! Your story stood out to our readers and editors, and we're excited to send it to Judge Dan Chaon! Shortlist: Closed for the Season The Walker at Night Wolfie Bakunawa and the Seven...
My sister Jane and I make the ideal jigsaw puzzle partnership. She’s more organized than me, the one who categorizes and compartmentalizes, but I have all the patience. Most recently, we tried a 1,000-piece train travel scene. She dutifully separated the pieces into...
“Do you want a bite, Linda?” you call out cheerfully from the living room. You’re settled into your recliner, hunched gleefully over a cinnamon roll. I pause, grip the broom hovering over a pile of debris in the middle of our tiny kitchen floor. I wanted to playfully...
he says, as soon as this is over. She lists the names of towns she’s always wanted to see, foreign and sticky on her tongue, Lauterbrunnen, Lucerne, Zermatt, as they sit abreast at the infusion center in Tucson, the thick heat of July pressing on the glass, the long...
Congrats to all of our long-listed writers! Your story stood out to our readers and editors, and we're excited to continue reading to find the perfect shortlist to send to Judge Dan Chaon! Longlist: Temptation a white horse runs without its rider The Bureau of Exiled...
Congrats to all of our long-listed writers! Your story stood out to our readers and editors, and we're excited to continue reading to find the perfect shortlist to send to Judge Dan Chaon! Longlist: Temptation a white horse runs without its rider The Bureau of Exiled...
Call your mother at 3 am, and when she asks why you are awake so late, tell her you recently learned that drain flies are fuzzier than fruit flies, even though both have made a home out of your sink. It’s important to keep people on their toes, so follow up this fun...
Judge Tara Isabel Zambrano has done the difficult task of choosing the twenty winners for this year's anthology! We're so excited to publish these twenty stories on our website and then in print! We also want to congratulate the shortlisted writers who trusted us with...