"Skunk," by Ben Greenman

Disappointments in ambition, parents, and lovers are familiar ground, as well as how we respond each in our way to unhappy lives. The unusual element here is the way this writer offers fresh language that knits a tableau of the life of a skunk, a guy who does not offer a reason for empathy from the reader. And yet, the guy’s not really so bad relative to the others in the story. I like the way the sustained metaphor of skunk pays off at the end of the story. Enjoy it here at Mississippi Review Online.

"Sundries," by Tiff Holland

There is no doubt that fast food, fast money via ATMs, and fast checkouts at the likes of CVS have become the substance of culture for some. In this piece, I feel the tightened trappings and the quiet desperation of this narrator looking for an exit. The way in which this narrator survives is tenuous and drew me in wondering about her afterward. Read it here in Mississippi Review.

"The Conquistadors of Los Angeles" by Kim Ponders

Deep emotion is just that. It’s there and it won’t go away no matter how long ago. In this story by Kim Ponders about a woman’s longing after a lost love affair, beautiful language and imagery evoke the true work of emotion. The voice is mesmerizing because it seamlessly straddles the practical, and the longing; the professional woman on travel with colleagues, and feeling the immediacy of her former lover. After all these years, she admits what she wants: “I wanted him only the way he was before he’d fled to Los Angeles, in that particular way he had of clinging to me and pushing me back, with all of us suspended inside the possibility of what would come next.” There is a dark compulsive nature to this voice that recalls a similar one in Lydia Davis’ novel, The End of the Story. Both are masters of language. Keying in just under 4,000 words, read Ponders’ short story here in the Mississippi Review.