Fiction/Nonfiction: fiction

  • Five Things by Emily Rinkema

    I couldn’t read this story all in one go, I needed to take a break once I figured out where it was going. It spirals and circles around in a kind of hypnotic way, and the title’s multiple meanings become clear. The writing is so subtle here that when I did finally finish it, I…

  • The Interview by Emily Rinkema

    I’m ten minutes late to the interview to be my mother’s daughter. That’s the first line of this story — it’s not perfectly clear by the end but it’s clear enough to be heartbreaking.

  • You’ve Got to be Vigilant, Wes by Emily Rinkema

    The narrator of “You’ve Got to be Vigilant, Wes” is constantly on the edge of committing murder. It’s strange and funny and clever, with unexpected depth. When I’m waiting for a subway, I think about pushing other passengers onto the tracks. I stand with my back against the wall until the train pulls in and…

  • Next Exit by Emily Rinkema

    A couple on a long drive at night starts with hypothetical questions that lead to some serious and difficult moments. This story has so much tension in it.

  • BREAKING by Emily Rinkema

    BREAKING is one of those stories that puts the reader off-balance in less than one sentence and stays there throughout. Here’s the first paragraph: On the designated day for punishing mothers, those of us who got our applications in early enough show up, mothers in tow. Most look like they came willingly, walking ahead of…

  • Murder Hotel by Emily Rinkema

    This story goes places I didn’t expect. It made me sit up and gasp at one point. …I whisper that there’s nowhere in the world I would rather be, even if people have been murdered in our hotel room. Steve laughs and insists they probably haven’t, even though the stain on the rug is dark…

  • White Trash by Emily Hampson

    From the perspective of a housekeeper in a ritzy hotel, Hampson’s story has teeth: Tonight, his hand clasps your elbow, wearing you like a purse. He likes it when you flaunt a skirt, likes to snake a finger up your pale thigh. Nibbling at your earlobe, he cocks an eye toward me. To him, everything…

  • Driving my Seven-Year Old Nephew to Visit His Mother at Rehab by Emily Rinkema

    The title is almost as long as the story, but the story is an emotional sledgehammer. It’ll take you 3 minutes to read and all day to process.

  • Mercy by Amy DeBellis

    This story from blog fave DeBellis was nominated for a Pushcart Prize – it’s about how we understand our loved ones and the world around us differently as we age. It’s got a surprise at the end, and Amy’s unique voice carries the story in a way that doesn’t feel like fiction at all.

  • The Possibility of Ghosts by Amorak Huey

    A short ghost story about living with a teenager. I love the ending of this story. Here’s the start: Eventually we did start to catch on he was a ghost. The lack of sleeping was a clue — he was up when we got up in the mornings, still up when we turned in. “I…