Fiction Issue
Out of the Pens of Babes
Most writers have been honing their craft since they were old enough to think. In their early years, they produced the same adorable, odd pieces of writing you'd expect from kids who don’t understand the world. Here's a selection of unedited writing...
Malibu
We sat in the recliners. I ate the cheesecake and my uncle ate the carrot cake. We watched the end of a movie called While You Were Sleeping. Then my uncle emptied his colostomy bag, while I sent that cheesecake down the toilet. I drank some...
Case Study 2: Recognition of the Self
When Christopher arrived for his first assessment he was not like a normal eight-year-old boy. When he spoke he used a fascinating mode of verbal communication, lacking the personal pronoun, and transposing “I” with “we.” “We want to go back to Lea...
Happiness
I suppose it was in Korea where I learned to be alone, which was why during the second year at home, I went to the retreat house to return to aloneness there. The house was so cold on the first night that the bottle of olive oil in the kitchen cabinet...
The Mare
To feel so much through something I was not part of was, of course, lonely. I began to wonder if it had been a mistake not to have children, to wonder what would’ve happened if I’d met Paul when I was younger. The third time we had sex, he said, “I...
Jailbait
She met Jack at a party her stepmom was throwing for her dad. She was sitting alone in the corner, bored, when Jack sat next to her. He was wearing a suit without a tie and nice shoes. His eyes were a deep, obvious blue, like hers, and his hair was...
Mitchell Jackson Has an Excellent Jump Shot
Mitchell Jackson is a writer from Portland and a protégé of legendary editor Gordon Lish who has what his brother calls a “James Jones-style jumper with great form.” He’s also the creator of two kids, the owner of a great smile, and has the ability to...