"Goodbye, My Coney Island Baby," by Billy O'Callaghan

This story with its seamless moving third point of view delivers a masterful level of depth. The writer draws a fine line discerning a fragile relationship of two people married to others but who find love between themselves. The reference to the song title evokes a simpler, nostalgic time with the harmony of barbershop quartet in contrast to the tone of loss and the abandonment felt in a Coney Island winter. The story’s strong sense of place offers these adulterous lovers the isolation that they crave from the bustle of Manhattan, and evokes the possibility of an infinite world suggested by the sweeping line from shore to horizon. It’s a compelling read where the writer does not tease with the characters’ future. Instead, the writing takes the reader along the journey where grace finds a way to seal these lives. “Some people see a glass as half full, others see it as half empty. But there is a third group, a small, almost unnoticeable percentage, who want nothing more than the opportunity to quench their burning thirsts.” Enjoy it here at Waccamaw Journal.

"Tree," by Anjie Seewer Reynolds

When I was a kid, many years ago, I loved riding my bike in the neighborhood. In my memory there was a particular hill as being a real leg-pumper; but fifteen or so years later when I returned, the hill barely rose from level ground. It wasn’t that I had grown in height in those intervening years but somehow my experiences had yielded another perspective on the terrain. Revisiting childhood haunts and former experiences may offer surprise, disappointment, and a new perspective. Reynolds’ vignette is powerful in imagery and the narrator’s attempt to recapture youth. Enjoy it here at Writers Workshop Review.

"Bearing a Cross," by Joseph Bates

Here’s a story that connects with the tradition of Maupassant, Sherwood Anderson, and Faulkner in the way that small town culture is portrayed as a cautionary tale. Bates’ town of Walhalla, South Carolina reacts to 9/11 with its best intention to govern by theocracy. The first person voice achieves authority throughout with statements such as this referring to the burning towers in NYC: “… you could smell the sulfur burning off her buildings from here.” Regional authenticity in the narrator’s voice entices us into believing the chain of events of this town. But we are given more than the particular with magical insights that resonate beyond Walhalla. Read it here in Issue 2 of Stones Throw .

"It Was So Many Years Ago," by Amber Krieger

The story centers on Henry, an older man, who happened to have been driving his car on an unlit road when he accidentally killed a man walking in the dark. For over 25 years he has struggled with this memory. Walking through the woods on this day captures Henry’s precarious balancing act through life: “The trail is uneven and each time he steps into a low spot he feels like he is going to topple over.” The deftness of writing draws precisely with a subtle pen linking emotions of isolation and disconnection from experience to experience, and from past to present moment. Read the story here at Carve Magazine.

"The Fly," by Katherine Mansfield

In a snug gentleman’s study, an old friend warms by the cozy fire sharing a whiskey. A chance reference about his deceased son pitches the gentleman into repressed memory and emotion. It’s a classic short story structure that calls upon the reader to search for meaning and leaves one with a feeling of satisfaction that only a master storyteller can deliver. Mansfield is that kind of writer. I am delighted that this story is available on the net for wide distribution today. Enjoy it here at 42opus.

"Two Bodies Passing Each Other," by Matthew Olzmann

What is intimacy between people? I suspect it’s felt more easily than defined. Olzmann offers an image that suggests a quality: “The glow from the one streetlight on our block slips into our room through a part in the curtains. It cuts a narrow path across the floorboards.” In this story, a couple’s familiarity and patterns of experience still leave a wide margin of mystery in their relationship. Read it here in elimae.

"Pleiades," by Anjali Sachdeva

The complexity of identity posed by identical twins is intriguing. You no doubt have encountered those kids who no one can tell apart except by the hidden mole in the small of the back, the kids who traded places and tricked teachers, friends or lovers. On a more serious level, what does it mean when twins who are separated by miles feel an intense emotional connection or physical pain? What really is the nature of intimate communication? Sachdeva’s story explores these connections and the fear of death among seven sisters. Leaning on the Greek myth of the Pleiades this story evokes a mysterious sensibility surrounding emotional connection and destiny. There’s a mix of the believable and the truly unexpected, that kind of moment most of us look for in short stories. Read it here in Gulf Coast Journal.