The Would-be Plan | Renee Soasey

"...if her head falls back over the edge she would lay there, exposed and vulnerable, while the water gradually cools to chilly..."

Last Days of Tornado Season in Topeka | Desmond Everest Fuller

"The old chrome barber's chair is cool against Donna's calves. Scissors sigh around her shoulders as bright straw drops between the barber's old fingers, falling quiet and heavy like snow..."

Yellowjacket | Tetman Callis

"This is a simple story. It has a philosophy student, a secretary, a nurse, a sprinkling of other persons as necessary or convenient, and an insect. The insect is one of this simple story’s eponymous hymenopterae..."

Wild Geese Calling | Abigail George

"She tells me she doesn’t deserve me, that she can see she’s hurting me. I say she’ll feel better after she eats something..."

Smithereens | John H. Leavitt

"Her name was Shannon and she belonged to a large family of children with broken bones. The bones weren’t all broken at the same time. They got broken one right after the other, like falling dominoes..."

The Noble Horse | Lisa Regen

"For the most part, horses are quiet. They neigh only to each other. In pain they are silent. If you are listening you might notice the stomp of a foot, the swish of a tail, their gentle breath..."