Devil Cut

Fiction by Robert Morgan Fisher Blaine’s father suggested they get a haircut together. Blaine couldn’t believe it when they pulled up to a civilian shop. A haircut was something they usually did on base and cost about five bucks. This was a men’s salon, where hair was styled. All the rage in 1975, getting your hair … Read More

An Arranged Marriage

Fiction by Tom Brauner Walking down the path into their lush back yard, gray pea-gravel crunching under his feet, Rex decides that today is the day to discuss his plan with Patricia. He has just returned from his appointment with his oncologist. Dr. Bell had stated that nothing remained in his treatment armamentarium; chemo, radiation, … Read More

The Essence

Fiction by Christine Ahern “The Essence” is an Editor’s Choice selection for this issue. Sophia brought the cinnamon stick to her nose. Would this be it? Was this where she would find him? She closed her eyes and saw the image of Robert rolling out pie crust dough. She pictured his hands as they chopped … Read More

The Light of Luna Madre

Fiction by C.S. Perryess The icy night wind strikes me in the face. It pushes my back against the adobe graveyard wall. Such a wind, born high in the Juarapa Mountains—born of snow and ice. Along the way, through the high deserts of Buitre Blanca, such a wind collects ghosts and cactus needles. Perhaps Adolfo … Read More

The Mary Taft Mystery

Fiction by Kevin Carver The first thing you need to know is that Momma changed the world. This was back when America was young, in the 1980s. We pumped our gasoline before we paid for it. You believe that? It’s true. Total honor system. Momma’d grip the hose handle with a polite wave to whichever … Read More

The Lila Segovia Smile

Fiction by Anne R. Allen “The Lila Segovia Smile” was the second-place winner in fiction in the 2024 Golden Quill Writing Contest. Mary Ellen Duggan clutched her Christmas cookie tin and pulled her raggedy suitcase up the leaf-strewn path to Jen’s fancy new Portland townhouse. Before she knocked on the door, Mary Ellen pulled a … Read More

Sounds Like Joni Mitchell

Fiction by S. S. Presby “Sounds Like Joni Mitchell” was the first-place winner in fiction in the 2024 Golden Quill Writing Contest. Buddy is dying today. It’s a bad day for it, but it’s happening. Sheldon didn’t know what was going to happen afterwards, when there was no one. But he had to kill Buddy, … Read More

“Scalpels and Sledges” by M.R. Lehman Wiens

Dr. Baird delivers a baby boy on a Thursday in November, his fourteenth baby that month. Baird catches him, gloved hands moving entirely on muscle memory. His thoughts are elsewhere, flitting between the leaking shower head in the guest bathroom and the lingering lisp on his daughter’s tongue that will require speech therapy and the … Read More