Flash Frog
Small. Brightly colored. Deadly to the touch.
Category: Uncategorized
Angela, in the basement by Kelly McElroy
The first time my mother takes my oldest sister down into the embalming room, I am hidden away upstairs, staring at my ceiling. My sister has just returned home from getting her degree in mortuary science, so she has a depth of understanding about… Continue Reading “Angela, in the basement by Kelly McElroy”
No Noise is as Heart-Wrenching as the Noise of a Wolf Howling by Jennifer Todhunter
Our friends owned a cabin five hours from the closest gas station, seven hours if the forest service road was closed, and there was a group of us who’d drive up every year after the kids got out of school, skipping the Last Day… Continue Reading “No Noise is as Heart-Wrenching as the Noise of a Wolf Howling by Jennifer Todhunter”
American Boy by Claire Y. Guo
American Boy teaches me all the ways to say home run. Big Fly. Homer. Dinger. Grand Salami. When he isn’t looking, I anoint each word with their Chinese translations, imagining they are caterpillars morphed into cocoon, too early or damaged to be exchanged for… Continue Reading “American Boy by Claire Y. Guo”
Sharing a super-single-dorm-bed after the club by Kinjal Johri
Tomorrow we will attend the belated funerals of our youth in dress pants and collared blouses. We will give our apologies for the loss and sit in stifling silence and then go home and tell our partners of the people we caught up with,… Continue Reading “Sharing a super-single-dorm-bed after the club by Kinjal Johri”
Warm Enough by Yoram Ong
By the time I reach my brother’s apartment, the sun is already low, slanting across the row of houses. I park behind his truck. He opens the door before I knock, like he’s been listening for my footsteps. “You made good time,” he says,… Continue Reading “Warm Enough by Yoram Ong”
The Surrogate by Sara Kaplan-Cunningham
Today, Carol is glum. I bring her a hot coffee from the machine, two creams one sugar. “What’s wrong, queen?” I ask. We have this kind of relationship, ascribing to each other royal titles we haven’t earned. “Birds are cowards,” she says. Her face… Continue Reading “The Surrogate by Sara Kaplan-Cunningham”
The House of Paper Mountains by Amalia Mora
The piles of paper have become mountains in Betty’s house. Some of the papers are stacked into bags that look like boulders, and often they erode and turn into spilled valleys. But they are always with her, these shifting geologies of envelopes and notes… Continue Reading “The House of Paper Mountains by Amalia Mora”
Boy by Lucy Zhang
When the NIPT results came back saying boy, I sang to the heavens and burned money made from joss paper. The flames singed my ring finger, leaving a blister that bubbled for days before finally popping like a water balloon, unleashing with it the… Continue Reading “Boy by Lucy Zhang”
Love and the Side Table by Judy Darley
In the evenings, sunset soaks the garden at the back of their new house, shadows pressing their palms against the walls. Eileen likes to stand in the grass barefoot and feel the energy of the day drift through her into the ground, mooring her… Continue Reading “Love and the Side Table by Judy Darley”
Maytag Man by Elise LeSage
Of course we knew they would send Patrick Bisby. We’d gotten our hands on Maytag’s schedule and saw Patrick was their Saturday-man. “Noon to six,” the reps had said when we called about the dryer. “Would tomorrow be convenient?” “Yes,”we had answered, giggling into… Continue Reading “Maytag Man by Elise LeSage”