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short stories

In Case of Emergency Take Selfie

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This story was featured by Mulberry Literary Journal in the Issue IV NOWISE. Established in 2020, Mulberry Literary is an online literary and art magazine dedicated to showcasing boundless creative work in its every form. 

This was how it started. First, she forgot to wash her hair. She reduced the ritual from once a week to once a month, then abandoned the task completely.

She piled her hair high on her head and focused her attention on knotting macramé. On Tuesdays she baked sourdough, using the scoring lame to slice artwork into the top of the dough so each loaf emerged from the oven looking like Jesus.

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Q

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This story was featured by Active Muse literary journal in the Winter (Shishir) 2021 collection. Each collection, issued seasonally, features poems and short stories by authors from around the world. 

I shot hoops at the YMCA most summer nights. Swiped my card at the snacks machine. I pretended not to notice that my hair was falling out by then—tight white chunks like lint from the dryer trap. I saw one real big piece float down the court and lost my shit, because parts of me shouldn’t be taken out with the trash despite what ‘Rico says. I wrapped my hair in a scarf, put on a cap and double checked my fingernails to make sure they were clean.

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Sister Salsa

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Our mom had decided to teach us how to make homemade salsa. We said, OK. Our husbands didn’t think it was such a good idea.… Read More »Sister Salsa

Looking Glass

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At East 74th and 5th Avenue in Central Park, just north of the water conservatory and east of the boathouse, stands the Alice in Wonderland… Read More »Looking Glass

Julie

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She was a lanky woman who looked like an athlete and when she walked, especially fast, placed extra emphasis on the balls of her feet.

A family outcast since the day she was born, she moved through the world with a lofty air and a certain resignation—but things started to change right around the time she graduated from Cleveland State University with a degree in art history.

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Mind Monday

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The radio flipped itself on and a light buzz filled the room. Gershwin’s “Rhapsody In Blue” weaved between a lilting voice racing through the dailies.

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The Zoom Room

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The green light came on. Two windows appeared, then four, six, eight. Someone tapped a microphone. Some attendees checked for food in their teeth, adjusted… Read More »The Zoom Room

Third Wave Coffee And Justice For All

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His eyes squint as he enters the tiny coffee shop and lips purse in response to the morning soundtrack – The Misfits – loud enough that the two opening baristas bellow at each other from across the dinky bar.

Learning To Swim

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Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

In the dream I had, the lake bubbled like a hot spring. The water was crystal clear, and I could see all the way down to the bottom.

Antiheroes swim. Flesh and blood protagonists from popular 21st century television shows with enormous flaws and the deepest of secrets – Olivia Pope, Don Draper, Emily Thorne – they all swim.

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