1.
He is only 22—he still has baby fat around his cheeks—but a slipped disc in his back makes him incapable of moving himself in.
You spend ten minutes hauling his mattress and a couple suitcases up the stairs. We have three other roommates, you tell him. Have them help you with the rest. The rest, he repeats, and you look out at the front porch. Oh, you say. Cool. Then we’re done here.
He sends a message to the house: can somebody take me to Walmart?
Everyone’s busy. You send him the...
"Gold Pawn" by Cora Lewis was originally published in Joyland Magazine on December 21, 2023 as an excerpt from her novella-in-progress. The completed novella, Information Age, will be released from Joyland Editions in July 2025 and is available now for pre-order from Asterism Books.
An old flame of mine is coming to town.
“You still have a thing for him,” Saul says.
“He’s dreamy,” I say.
“It’s good when they’re also awake.”
I work for the newswire, and I...
I only picked up because my mother never called me.
“Kopal, you’ve upset your sister,” she said.
“Don’t be stupid.” I told myself I meant to say silly. I could see the sun like a hole over the eastern edge of Koramangala, the streets already busy with people and vehicles and smells, sweat, diesel, the burnt milk scent from the tea cart stationed too close to the ashram’s entrance. “Are you okay?” I asked.
“Rupa told me...
