Pebble Linings

by Laura adrienne Brady

“I would not be here if not for illness. And being here is good. Must I then consider the illness, even if only in some small part, beneficial?”

Pregnant, Gland Problem, or Just Fat?
by Bethany bruno

“If it hadn’t been for the fact that I hadn’t had sex for the last three years, I might have thought that I was in fact carrying the messiah thanks to her gentle buffing of my ‘precious’ belly.”

Shelved: An Essay Alphabetically Arranged
by MIalise carney

“I knew that there was something I was missing, maybe a code word or a secret handshake everyone else had learned by intuition but I hadn’t.”

Prostitute in the Christmas Village

by Janine DeBaise

“She picked up the little figure. A few quick brush strokes, and the shapely woman was wearing a red Christmas sweater. ‘Everyone should have a warm sweater in this weather,’ my mother said.”

If You Spot a Crow
by heather diamond

 “Crows are divine messengers. Crows are harbingers of doom. One crow in a dream predicts a death. Seeing two crows on a wire means good luck. Spotting three means wealth and health. Five crows are a sign of impending sickness. Six crows and we circle back to death.”

Bigfoot, UFOs and Cults

by Sean winn

“Why did Bigfoot and the aliens abandon us, leaving only work-a-day news of car crashes, corrupt politicians and trade wars?”