7.1 Fiction

Aquí por Ti

by Lois Dubois

“Jon walked in, a towel around his waist. “Hey, Catoosh. Let’s pack up. We’re headed out to that other village today, right? What’s it called? Let’s get out of here before it’s gets too hot, ok? … Hey what’s wrong?” She turned and stared at him, while inside thick strands of dark emotions whirled. She wanted to speak, but couldn’t. She squeezed her eyes shut and pointed to his laptop…”

Hey Buddy

by Robin Kozak

“On the quartz counter, where her coffee cup waited, was a cicada, which Ross had flipped upside down on her best maple cutting board and was holding fast in her eyelash curler. Her tweezers were in his hand, and Ella’s stomach turned as she saw the wings scattered on the counter and the creature’s legs, intensely black against the white stone, which Ross had plucked from the iridescent turquoise body, one by one…”

The Curse

by Sam Rebelein

“She flew across the bed, whipped out a hand, clamped her fingers around his wrist so hard he felt the bones grind against each other. She hoisted herself up off the bed—the most she’d moved on her own in years. She hissed at him, spat through cracked yellow teeth: “Get rid of it.”…”