
Four Portraits of a Mugging
by Brita Mackey
“A man—he had a knife—he came out of a house and he took my phone.” I am not sure if I’m using the right word for knife.

Index for W: Growing Up XX
by Aysia Torres
XX was taught that her worth was determined by how much money she earned. Are women worth less than men if they make less money?

Old Hollywood
by Alan Swyer
Years ago, when I was still relatively new to Los Angeles, I was walking to lunch one day with someone who would become a mentor when a distinguished-looking older man gasped. “Rod Amateau! Fuck you!”

Gilgamesh: A Film Treatment for the First Action Hero
by Scott Archer Jones
In the third millennium, fifteen hundred years before Homer’s Iliad, Gilgamesh was the stuff of legend. In fact, he was the first tragic hero.

Modern Resuscitation, Or: Where You Keep Your Heart
by Elijah Tomaszewski
I’m pumping the way I’ve been doing for the past minute.

My Middle East
by Norma Smith
My first lover was Middle Eastern. Amir and I met in the cramped hallway of a university dormitory in Eastern France the first day I moved into Room 76 on the third floor.

My So-Called Analog Life
by Isabella David
About a month ago, an Internet friend’s self-published novel made its way from all the way around the world into my eager hands.

The Largest Place in the World
by Clio Velentza
I make a place out of my body for you to live, out of the twigs and mud under my skin.

Clear
by Karl J. Sherlock
Slumped into his desk chair, Max has precious minutes to get on the road for one of his many doctor’s visits this month, but I can’t tell if he’s sleeping or braking for pain.

Divinity School Dropout
by Ferdinand Hunter
Sometimes, even now that I’m older and freer, and I am feeling especially alone in the world, I find myself whispering the words of the Apostles’ Creed.

When We Are Alive
by Kaori Fujimoto
You rush from your home in the Tokyo area, and, as the train station comes into view, you see your fellow commuters bottlenecked into the street.

Sequoia Sempervirens
by Amye Archer
There are nights when I look at you, feel for you in the dark, and the falling into one another, the estuary we create, is still so easy.

The King of Rock ‘n Soul
by Alan Swyer
Dubbed by Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records The greatest singer—and hustler—in the world, Solomon Burke had a story second to none.

Inner Monologue as I prepare to Write My Sexual Bildungsroman
by Christie Tate
Regret not a single time you ran full-speed into situations that violated every standard of ethics, morality, hygiene, civility, and OSHA.

Change of Address
by Maggie Lane
I feel another body from the empty side of the bed pressing against mine, a heavy, immovable body made of worry and anxiety.