Short Story | JOYLAND

Conviction

Jordan Alam -

Laila blames her vanishing libido on moving into Kasim’s apartment. She tries to remember the last time they had sex and feels guilty when...

Girls’ Church

Amara Okolo -

Nothing the eye can see will make it bleed. -Igbo Proverb The other nurses hated me. I wanted to believe it was not malicious but stemmed...

Catch and Release

Amy X. Wang -

1. Maisie’s on the verge of something spectacular. This, we know—and not because the nanosecond upticks of her gait, pulse, blinks, aerobic functions, shuddering fast-twitch...

Save the Cat

Drew Nelles -

This summer, everyone is drinking Aperol spritzes, and Simon orders one now. I would love an Aperol spritz, he says to the waitress, emphasizing...

Local Distance

Claire Oleson -

A leucistic moose, a pearled animal with starch-white fur and black eyes, dies to a kia soul going 79 on an upstate rural road....

Neighborhood Bakery

Stephen Kearse -

The Heritage Legacy Trust compliance officer looked through Calvin’s application materials for a third time. He watched her jeweled hands thumbing the vendor contracts,...

Big Tree

Séamus Murphy-Mitchell -

All the way to the hospital, through its various wings, and along its warren of corridors, I hope that my grandfather is dead, for...

The Voice

Leila Register -

He used to make me do this voice. He’d say please baby do the voice. And at the beginning I would do it every...

Tunnels

Yasmin Adele Majeed -

Back when we were friends, we spent Saturday nights in the tunnels. This was sophomore year, the cusp of fall in California, and at...

Disclosure

Maria Marchinkoski -

Sveta walked up the gravel drive to see what she came to see: a blind Shetland pony limping out the back of a Washington...