ROOTLESS • by Peter Tupper
So you want to know why I want to take root? I came home from Iraq missing three pounds, eight ounces of flesh from my right arm and leg, and unable to sleep more than three hours a night. The...
View ArticleSERGEANT SMITH • by Mark Partin
Sergeant Smith sat on a bench with his back to busy Eighth Avenue. Cars and pedestrians rushed by him, creating the blur of sounds typical of a large city. His camouflage uniform still harbored dust...
View ArticleHERO • by Henry Lara
The woman sprinted toward their position, black robes flowing around her, yelling as she ran. He took aim and fired. *** “Shut up…” he mumbled, reaching for the alarm. Fifteen minutes later he rolled...
View ArticleNUB AGAINST THE DOOR • by Kenton K. Yee
Brakes squealed. Seconds later, the bells above the door chimed . A skinny, one-armed man walked straight to the counter, where a woman was partially hidden behind a TV. “Where’s the latrine,...
View ArticleTWO VETERANS • by JR Hume
Mr. Larsen settled into his wheelchair and arranged the blanket over his legs. “How long we been doing this?” “Eleven — no — twelve years. Started when I was thirteen. The first year you had to use a...
View ArticleVETERANS OF WAR • by Deborah Winter-Blood
It’s hard to find needles for the turntable nowadays, but the young orderly at the VA helped. He wrote down a link and I followed it, and I placed the order. I worried that it wouldn’t arrive in time....
View ArticleGRIMM • by Kyle Hemmings
My uncle lived in the warehouse district of Toledo, not far from a Pizza Papalis and a Blarney Irish Pub. He didn’t work, lived on government checks and “gifts” from my parents. My father blamed his...
View ArticleUSED BOOKS • by Von Rupert
Edgar slid through the door of the bookshop minutes before Lady Randolph would flip the sign from “open” to “closed.” Wintergreen and cigarette scented air huffed out between her loose lips as he...
View ArticleTHE PROMISE • by JR Hume
I never wanted to visit the Wall. For years Vietnam veterans had only each other; as a memorial the Wall seemed too little, too late. Besides, there were so many names — so many memories. I often dream...
View ArticleTHE UNWINNABLE FIGHT • by Brian Toups
It’s the house I was raised in, and nothing has changed. The grass around the flowerbed is cut short and neatly edged like me. My father’s ‘67 Camaro is in the driveway, plum-crazy-purple, recently...
View ArticleDUTY, HONOR, AND COUNTRY • by Kelly Castillo
There’s lots of green, and it’s very bright, and that seems wrong. My head feels like a beehive, and there’s a slight hum, from crying or maybe gritting my teeth. There are lots of words, most of them...
View ArticleVETERANS • by Kate Thornton
He looked across the breakfast table, knowing that soon he’d have to choose his words carefully. It was the same every year. First the flags popped out along their quiet suburban street. Then the...
View ArticleHASSAN’S NEWS • by Dale Ivan Smith
A gun blasted and the living room window shattered, glass showering Hassan. He ran to the couch. Auntie Fatima grabbed him and held him close with the other two children. Someone screamed in the...
View ArticleGRIMM • by Kyle Hemmings
My uncle lived in the warehouse district of Toledo, not far from a Pizza Papalis and a Blarney Irish Pub. He didn’t work, lived on government checks and “gifts” from my parents. My father blamed his...
View ArticleVETERANS • by Kate Thornton
He looked across the breakfast table, knowing that soon he’d have to choose his words carefully. It was the same every year. First the flags popped out along their quiet suburban street. Then the...
View ArticleHASSAN’S NEWS • by Dale Ivan Smith
A gun blasted and the living room window shattered, glass showering Hassan. He ran to the couch. Auntie Fatima grabbed him and held him close with the other two children. Someone screamed in the...
View ArticleGRIMM • by Kyle Hemmings
My uncle lived in the warehouse district of Toledo, not far from a Pizza Papalis and a Blarney Irish Pub. He didn’t work, lived on government checks and “gifts” from my parents. My father blamed his...
View ArticleTHE PROMISE • by JR Hume
I never wanted to visit the Wall. For years Vietnam veterans had only each other; as a memorial the Wall seemed too little, too late. Besides, there were so many names — so many memories. I often dream...
View ArticleTHE UNWINNABLE FIGHT • by Brian Toups
It’s the house I was raised in, and nothing has changed. The grass around the flowerbed is cut short and neatly edged like me. My father’s ’67 Camaro is in the driveway, plum-crazy-purple, recently...
View ArticleTHE NEW STANDARD • by Joshua Joseph Barella
Getwright and I were in the DFAC one day — this was before deployment, pre-mob maybe. He looked over and said to me, And every year when the goslings hatch dad lets the hounds after them. Separate...
View Article