Flash Fiction Runner-Up: Evidence Bag n. AV32948 ⚡️

by Slawka G. Scarso Camouflaged on the flattened grass, among the clashing beauty of a multicoloured flowered field, we went unnoticed for twelve hours, until they came in dozens—officers, dogs, or simple volunteers who could not want to wait, hands on their laps in front of the television screens. As they combed the fields, only the sound of the brushing wind breaking the silence as the eyes did not want to miss a thing, and Read more…

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune was unlike any story I’ve ever read before. Though there is a lot of Magical Realism sweeping through bookstores, this does something the others don’t. For one thing, the magic isn’t heavily focused. And two, the magic they are referring to is the youth who are beings or have powers we the reader are familiar with. Thus it isn’t such a stretch to imagine these magical Read more…

Attachments by Jeff Arch

Usually, you hear of people making the leap from page to screen, but Arch has done the reverse—more than 28 years after penning the screenplay for the beloved hit rom-com Sleepless in Seattle, the Emerson College alum (Class of ’76) published his first novel, Attachments, in May. In this coming-of-age novel, three best friends, Stewart “Goody” Goodman, Sandy “Pick” Piccolo, and Laura Appleby, the girl they both love, find out that their former boarding school’s Read more…

Replacement

Emma Brackett [YOU ARE CURRENTLY LATE FOR YOUR SHIFT AT FACILITY #2864.] Bright red text flashed across Georgina’s eyesight, accompanied by a rough robotic voice. [YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES TO ARRIVE. ARRIVING LATE WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE TERMINATION.] “Shit, shit, SHIT.” Georgina sprinted down the street, attempting to put her hair up in a company-approved bun as she slammed into person after person. The text and voice had her eyes’ and ears’ full attention, but after taking this Read more…

The Dragon of Jak

by Anna O’Connell In the village of Ják, Father Peter was washing the soot from his hands, following Compline on the Day of Ashes. He had remained to extinguish the candles and stepped outside and over to the trough to the side of the door, where he poured water from a small pitcher over his fingers. He had a brief pang of hunger and allowed a sigh to pass through his lips, the wordless sound Read more…