Short Story

The Rough and Tumble Sort

Robert James Russell -

We’d been sitting on that ratty floral couch in the ranch-style house in the foothills of the Ozarks for almost an hour watching re-runs...

Slowly Fading Out

Edmund Zagorin -

Wake up and don’t fall back asleep. Wake up and thank the noise which sounds like a submarine in trouble. Make your lunch and...

Children of the Corn

Nadia Bozak -

There’s a photo in the Saturday paper Dad wants Shell to think about. It is really simple: a man’s hand—giant and white—is holding out...

Noctivagrant

Meghann Rotary -

Editor's Note: This story is part of Joyland's Michigan stories series. Come back throughout April for more Michigan stories. “On the other side then” “torrential...

The Hygienist

Ben Hoffman -

Editor's Note: This story is part of Joyland's Michigan stories series. Come back throughout April for more Michigan stories. “Do you grind your teeth,” the...

Rhyme Game

Bonnie Jo Campbell -

Editor's Note: This story is part of Joyland's Michigan stories series. Come back throughout April for more Michigan stories. Tinny Marie and her mother rattled...

L’histoire de Mathilde

Sara Freeman -

I’d realized one day that it was something I could do and by the next I was doing it all the time—to the traffic...

The Circles in Which We Travel

Claudia B. Manley -

Louisa, in a blue dress that plays up her red hair, runs around the kitchen. “Malcolm! I can’t find Iffy’s bag.” “I’ve packed it,” Malcolm...

What the Crime Is Like Here

Alison Espach -

He called me from a payphone in New Hampshire. He didn’t like the mountains in New Hampshire. He didn’t realize there were so many...

Gate Count

Amanda Marbais -

We were ranching a lab-owned deer farm thirty miles from the nearest highway. Most mornings were the same. Our withered rooster, Mr. Kirkaby, woke...