Tectonics | Edward Ahern

Edward Ahern has had four hundred stories and poems and six books published so far. He works the other side of writing at Bewildering Stories, where he sits on the review board and manages a posse of nine review editors.

Love in the Knots of the Coptic Stitch | Beth Kephart

"Be aware the flowers will fade, that the fibers in the new paper are the fibers from the old paper, that whomever you were in the original will be whomever you are. There are no blank sheets..."

Imaginary Friend | Christine Salek

"Sometimes, when you have life growing inside of you, you wish you were a child again, and the thing inside you could be an imaginary friend that you feed and water and care for..."

Little Z | Susan L. Lin

"They called him Little Z because he was the youngest of the bunch—and wholly unoriginal, if what the others said was true. 'You look like a drunken N,' a male teacher had scolded once, his disdain clear..."

Marlon Brando Is a Bowling Pin | John Grayson Heide

"The audience reaction is mixed. The splattering of applause peters out and is replaced by murmurs and soft chatter. Leaning on the chair next to Johnny is a six-foot tall bowling pin, complete with a shiny white skin and a red strip festooned around a pinched neck..."

Bus Stop | Samantha Steiner

"...if you saw me you’d just think, hey, there’s this kid with curly hair and big headphones and maybe he’s on his way to school, and maybe he’s a skateboarder..."