The Slugger: Slipping the needle into his buttocks didn’t hurt until they asked him to pee in a cup.
Kathleen Gerard is a prize-winning writer who maintains the blog www.kathleengerard.blogspot.com.
She lived in fear of rejecting her new face, the face given to her by a stranger and a team of doctors, the face her attacker daily kissed.
Elaine Isaak‘s (@elaineisaak) next book, The Bastard Queen, is forthcoming January 2010. You do not want to be her hero.
My dad was too busy so I said painting projects with his pop were stupid. He looked at his brush and a drop of red paint fell to the ground.
DannyPoet (@dannypoet) is a writer of fiction and poetry who is currently working on his first novel.
“God offers you paradise after this awful life,” said the prophet, and his people killed themselves. “Better make suicide a sin,” he noted.
Alexander B. Joy is a student of English and Philosophy at UNH Durham.
Our lives were mapped out by the tracks of your tears that followed the tracks on my arms. Both always trying to stop; both always failing.
Jay Faulkner (@thejayphoenix) is a writer, martial artist, sketcher, and dreamer but mostly a husband and father.
He smirks at the baggie he’s confiscated: “So nice of you to share.” I watch him light up. So nice of him to mention his poison ivy allergy.
R. Gatwood is concise.
She hadn’t wanted one when she was young. Leading the girl furtively by the hand, no guardian in sight, the woman marveled at finding love.
Marcelle Heath is a fiction writer and assistant editor for Luna Park. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
The mussels steamed up and split their lips, revealing the soft, moist meat within. Jeremy sighed. He needed to find a girlfriend, and fast.
Brad Chacos has a story and an article appearing in future issues of Withersin magazine, but oddly enough, no Twitter account.
He thought that the story I wrote about love was “touching.” Too bad it wasn’t about him.
Matan White married her high school sweetheart. Too bad the only way she can communicate with him is by submitting to this mag.
The customer no-shows at a rest stop on I-65. A kilo cold in the trunk. It’s snowing. She shivers. “I’m done with this,” she says to no one.
Dale Wisely is a fan of economy of language. He edits Right Hand Pointing.