Short Story | JOYLAND

Initial Conditions

Lena Crown -

The nodes would always adhere to the circuit. Every day at four in the afternoon, with six hours of studio time down and two...

Sleepless at Silver Lake

Carolyn Kuebler -

It’s like an apartment building with the walls removed. People all turned inward to their campfires, their picnic tables, even during the day, when...

The Sky is an Organ

Joshua Vigil -

Ever been to a gay bar? said the older man. He was slumped in a chair. We were in the waiting room, the aesthetician....

The Light of Eternal Spring

Angel Di Zhang -

My mother died of a broken heart, or so the letter said. I was standing before a vegetable stall in Manhattan’s Chinatown, next to eight-for-a-dollar...

The Brief History of the Nasser Dogs

N.S. Ahmed -

I The day the nation was reborn as a republic, Habib Nasser sought the protection of a dog. For months he had been listening to...

This Is Not a Story About Her

Kwame Opoku-Duku -

But from the very start, from the very first day we meet at a party in The Mission, I know she is destined to...

Gold Pawn

Cora Lewis -

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...

Bundle

Amy Milin -

Violet put a hand to her stomach, unsure whether the rumbling she felt was an effect of hunger or the thing inside her. Less...

Baptism

Ifeanyichukwu Eze -

1. “It could have been worse,” Buba says to the image in the mirror. His eyes still scream for sleep. A good explanation for how...

Exit 25

Russ Myslewicz -

Over the course of the first two and a half weeks of July, he had been doing well. He was staying sober for the...