Fiction

If you like what you discover here, pick up a copy of our print issue at Susquehanna University’s Writers Institute to read even more!

love me like ivan

By Jake Kolasa

“Cuh-lancy Kawajiri! You ate all the goddamn apple pie!” Rachel Kawajiri grabbed the empty pie tray from the kitchen window sill, still hot but licked clean. She stomped her way to the bottom of the steps and held her hands on her hips, waiting for a response.

you wanted, you want

By Ella Baker

You’re hungry. It’s lunchtime, and you’re scrolling through Instagram on your phone. There’s someone pretty on there, and you’re jealous of them in a way that is so sudden—so helpless. It hurts.

A Ballad of Birds

By Emily Harris

At the crossroads between the stage and auditorium doors, Winston’s mother has her hands wrapped around his wrists like prison shackles. They are to be separated in three minutes, but he has a feeling the stage will be an even worse cell.

jewish

By Lindsay Hirschman

Go to Hebrew school every Wednesday; learn the Hebrew alphabet; read from right to left; try not to read the English phonetic spellings of the prayers from the Chumash; if you do, don’t look like you’re doing it; pay attention to the Rabbi; sit up straight in the synagogue pews; sing along with the Rabbi;

stalls can talk

By Lexie Kauffman

Apparently there’s a spider in the shower next to you, if the screams are anything to go by. You hear the curtain and someone fighting an eight-legged foe, but you just keep shampooing.

doormat

By Sydnie Howard

Step one: Lay there like a doormat.  

With “Welcome” tattooed across your forehead No, not a real tattoo, a Sharpie will work. Or a knife.