Siren Song Allison Hymas The first ocean wave of the year came late past midnight on March twenty-fourth. It shook the foundations of Seaside, Nebraska’s small courthouse, flooded the dance clubs and late-night diners, and broke over sleeping bodies before ebbing and returning to the black abyss it came from. Its white foam hissed of…

Two Flash Fictions David Crohn Is There a Bird The man in the Tower, whose ornithology is often intact, will notify you, via paper slip through plastic tubeway, of the incident. If the sparrow or pigeon is in a kitchen, look for the problem ointment administered through wall pores, the scent of which will frighten…

Wedding Wishes Joachim Frank Looking outside the window of the grand resort hotel in Westchester County, he found the trees in heavy commotion; he checked the weather on the internet, and there he found a super-taifun about to approach Hong Kong. Bringing a jacket with him, he decided, was advisable, with weather turning global and…

OXY Pads and OxyContin Matthew Dexter Sobbed so succulent the night after getting promoted from sales manager to president and CEO of the panty department—my tear duct turned to crust beneath the waxing tangerine moon. The kitchen was illuminated with square-dancing eddies of lavender-scented candles and I sat there in the closet scratching my scrotum drinking gin with an…

Survival Mechanisms Kelly Thomas I. My sister broke her arm. I would like to say that she hit ice from great heights—her snowboard, one broad wing—but I think she skidded, tipping downhill from a standstill. Apparently we don’t need much momentum to twist ourselves into bone-snapping human shapes. When they sawed off the cast, her…