All in Fiction

FICTIONReady to Where?Brianna J.L. Smyk

She’d posed for Giorgio a few times, but that was before his Dolce & Gabbana phase, before he’d gelled his black hair into a thick screw, fastened at the nape of his neck by a clear elastic. Today, his neon green and black, geometric-print shirt—unbuttoned one, or maybe two buttons too many—was tucked, haphazardly, into his fitted leather pants, secured with a grossly-oversized belt buckle blasting the logo of his brand du jour. 

FICTIONThe PatioJosh Rank

I was just sitting on the patio watching the bats fly around when her car pulled up.  I didn’t know it was her at first, which was a bit of a gift.  Another few peaceful moments enjoying the serene chirps as the bats blindly circled.  A faint glow still hung in the sky, but she had her headlights on.  I noticed the vague illumination through the thin bamboo fence bordering the patio. 

FICTIONRun With MeAlyssa Murphy

He wakes up to the sound of rocks hitting his window – scarcely more than pebbles, not enough to do damage, but enough to wake him up. Sure, Dylan’s a light sleeper, but it’s still a ridiculous maneuver and that can only mean one thing. Harper McLeod, childhood best friend and platonic soulmate, is back in action and needs an accomplice.

FICTIONTrademark-Infringement ManCaleb Echterling

A man in a spherical red bodysuit perched across the street from the art museum. Binoculars pressed rings into his eye sockets. Six stories below, a white van disgorged black-clad passengers. The blue flame of a blowtorch illuminated a ground level door. The round red man’s chest jutted out.  A cape fluttered behind him as he cut a silhouette against the full moon. He punched a number on his cell phone.

It had been a been a rough week from a bad month out of an even worse year, and Brother Mark had recently slipped past the edge of no longer caring. It was difficult to put an exact timeline on these kinds of things, but he was certain there was a definite moment in time that could be marked as the dissolving point of their relationship. His problem was in choosing which among many events was the worst, the one that could truly be looked to as the beginning of the end.