Category: Fiction – 12th Edition
-
Homecoming
Mona reflected on how different her house looked in the dark. The familiar presence of her mom’s hutch and their dusty ceiling fan were transformed into a giant, a bird of prey, all by the absence of light. Maybe also a guilty conscience. The geometric kitchen vinyl crackled under her feet, even though she tried…
-
Sticky Memories
In the very back of my mind, there is the smallest bit of memory, dusty like a photograph found in a packed away attic box. If it were a photograph, it would be a beautifully deceiving scene of a perfect family. If I squeeze my eyes closed tight, I can see us all. Just a little…
-
My Mother’s Ghost
As my dangling keys clank against one another, they sound like rusty chains. My fumbling hands miss the door lock again, and it feels like a much more devastating failure than it appears. Eventually, I jam it in with enough force I think I could have just pushed the door down instead. This is the same…
-
Forget Me Not
There is nothing more freeing than driving at night with the music loud and the windows down. That’s what Elliot thought as she drove the roads home. The cool breeze danced across her face and head, causing hair to fall from the loose ponytail she had assembled earlier that night. She felt happy for the…
-
Mouadh
Eion had been a young lad when he decided to catch himself a merrow-wife, down near the sea. At dawn, he stood, ankle-deep in the tide, with a fishnet in hand—and cast it three times out. “It shall be like my father said,” Eion thought to himself, “I shall catch myself a wife and relieve her…
-
In
They had always met on the docks near sunset. Adalaide had come to dread this tradition of theirs, not the meeting part, but the build-up. The planning ahead, telling her husband she was going out. He would respond with ‘where?’, to which she would have to lie and say with a friend. It wasn’t a…
-
Evasive Actions of the Mind
“Son,” The Venator loudly called out through flooded timber. “Quiet yourself! For they are fast approaching.” Almost immediately, the Tyro — only about 12 or so years old — focused his eyes on the meadow passage that bordered the swampy portion in which they sat. He could not help but imagine a great many beasts…
-
That One Diner Chain From Your Hometown
Scene – Diner A small-town diner. Three tables are set up. The furthest one to the left starts with dirty dishes on the table and two glasses that are half full of water. A woman is sitting at this table. The middle table has a man, Frank, who is sitting at it by himself talking…
-
Lost Between Branches
Scene: Deep in the Woods, 1 am (It is dark and the moonlight lights up the scarce forest. Trees are seen in the distance and branches and leaves that cover the ground are spread around about evenly. Cecilia emerges into the forest frantically. wearing a coat and a backpack that is opened and appears to…
-
The Barbeque
Scene – Backyard around lunchtime (Charles is seen grilling while other guests are socializing around him. A boom box is sitting to the side of them on a lawn chair. Everyone has big smiles. Tony, Becky, and Lucas all walk up to Charles while he is grilling. Tony leads the conversation. ) TONY: Great party, man.…
Arrow Rock Literary Journal 