Grant Longstaff is from a small, suitably dismal town in the north east of England where nothing much happens. He had no choice but to write fiction. He now lives in Glasgow. You can find him on Twitter. Abstraction was published previously by Every Day Fiction in January 2018. We are sitting on two iron … Continue reading Abstraction by Grant Longstaff
I crack time. Part the seam, step into gray-green gloom. I wait as eyes adjust, hear the seam flutter closed. Bookshelves line the corridor, extend into the past. Shelves crammed with books, spines to the wall, smelling of ozone and rose water. Hardcovers, paperbacks, trades, loose leaf. The past as hardcopy, minutes pressed against minutes, … Continue reading The Memory of a Memory by Marc A. Criley
Two Little Gods were smearing cold soot onto their cheeks when the tide finally came in. The smaller of the two was named Ogden, and he was the God of Irregularly-Shaped Fruit. Most of his divine duties involved watching for people who saw a pear that looked a bit like a Buddha, or a banana … Continue reading The Poison Swallowers by Logan Murphy
Tuesday originally appeared on Ellipsis Zine. When I got up this morning, I left my spine in the bed. It was strange to stand up with no spine—I flopped and melted, and my head slid down my neck. I grabbed my spine, but my hand melted down it and some of my fingers came off … Continue reading Tuesday by Emily Livingstone
“Catch fire? Well, then, at least I’ll be a spectacle to behold, don’t you think?” Nozomi’s skin looked translucent, delicate. As if a simple sneeze could be enough to hurt her. “And stop looking at me like that!” “I’m not.” “Yes, you are. Everybody does.” She stepped lightly across the floor, moving next to the … Continue reading Missingness by Roberto Bommarito
In the kitchen, I find Clara by the sink, looking out the window. Still. Dozens of eggshells are scattered along the granite counter. Broken in halves, segments, shiny egg whites hang off jagged edges. The morning light falls across Clara’s messy braid, making her hair look almost red. But she shifts, and her hair is … Continue reading Yolk by Jennifer Fliss
Jack carries around an empty room for almost a week before he has the nerve to do more than just peek inside. It’s in another universe, a divergent splinter of this one. That’s what Charlotte says when he calls her from the road and shares the photos he’s taken from outside the door. Jack barely … Continue reading Home Away From Home by Fred Coppersmith
Too many moons, for one thing. Where did all of these extra moons come from? That one up there, the oblong one, I remember that orbiting the fourth planet last time we visited. You must have towed it here somehow. Why in… Never mind. I don’t really want to know. I don’t want to know … Continue reading Fixer Upper by A.M. Call
I’m remembering again. Remembering — if that’s the word for it. The memories swamp me as I settle down to sleep. A ratty blanket with clumps of soil stuck to it was all I could find to wrap myself in. After discovering naught but ruins for miles, I was glad to come across something which … Continue reading You Will Never Lose Me by Tim Jeffreys
You carry your father to the Mansion of Endless Rooms. It is the duty of the oldest to do this; not all children are called and fewer still answer. You feel his weight on your spine, the tightness of obligation around your neck, the responsibility grinding your knees. You asked your family which room your … Continue reading The Mansion of Endless Rooms by L Chan