Category Archives: Prose

Fiction by Lauren Purnell Jonah bit into an apple. It was mushy, sweet, almost rotten. But he hadn’t had fruit in months, and Jonah would never pass up such an opportunity. And besides, Jonah deserved it after what happened last year. The secrets. The gunshots. The blood of his lover staining his hands.  In theContinue reading “Love in the Apocolypse”

Fiction by Lauren Purnell Phoebe Adams was handling her breakup brilliantly. She hadn’t even cussed her out in the hallway, or tried to key her car—and oh god, Phoebe wanted to. She wanted to punch walls and break things. Instead, she spent an hour sobbing on her bathroom floor, listening to Mitski. Then, Phoebe recruitedContinue reading “Payback”

(TW: this work contains mentions of abuse) I His hands land color to my cheeks. It’s like Holi again and we are both ten years old. I am running and he’s chasing me all around the house, his fists overfilled with gulaal. No matter how fast I run, he runs faster. He catches up withContinue reading “Candyman”

There was mud on Clara’s ankles snaking its way up to her calves. It seeped, squelched between her toes as she walked further into the marsh, Back there, where the grasses grew in bursts like the clouds in the June sky, she had lost one shoe then the other. At the loss of the firstContinue reading “Into the Marsh”

As I sit in a new place surrounded by new people, sounds, and feelings, I must thank whoever or whatever brought me here. I am in love with the opportunities in front of us. I will be able to be happy in my career and be able to expand my life in positive ways. MyContinue reading “Massachusetts Reflection”

“No, you can’t, it’s against the law!” I struggle against the fairies dragging me along, big burly ones too. “Yes we can sweetheart,” the female one says in a sickly sweet voice. “Article 23 of the new constitution never specifies the use of children in time travel.”I continue struggling, new constitution be damned. Fairies andContinue reading “The Time Machine”

Lex huffed. She told herself not to go, but her best friend, Savannah, had convinced her to go. Parties just weren’t her style, and like every other time Savannah had disappeared with some guy as soon as they arrived, leaving Lex standing awkwardly in a corner. All by herself no less, everything about the situationContinue reading “Corner Conversation”

There are three reasons I don’t fight demons: they’re rich, they’re arrogant, and they always, always cheat. Without fail.  “Lyric,” says a voice behind me. I pause and then resume putting one foot in front of the other. “What’s the bet on me today?”  “Thirty gold. And a few silvers thrown in by the moreContinue reading “Fight”

I look out my window and smile at the white blanket that has covered my city while I slept. I reached for my phone to check my notifications to find that school had been canceled for the day. Texts started to fill the group chat and before I knew it, my house had become theContinue reading “Snowday”

Had you told Ira Smith that she’d be spending her New Year’s Eve breaking into the local ice-skating rink she would’ve chosen to go to bed early. Instead she’s standing outside in the negative degrees trying to keep the heavy snowflakes from melting into her eyes waiting for her best friend to unlock the doorContinue reading “Ice Ice Skating”