Here, in micro-flash nonfiction, writers make quick work of compelling stories. During July 2020, we present short takes on work and working. Summer 1980sRoach Trap Line by María Luisa Arroyo I twisted orange earplugs in to muffle the cacophony of conveyor belts. One roaring belt […]
By Reverie Koniecki When I was still young enough to believe I could become president someday, but old enough to watch my little brother occasionally, my family went to two different Baptist churches. On weekends when my mother didn’t have to work, we went to […]
By Linda Wisniewski Imagine your feet in damp socks inside your sneakers. You jump over puddles on a busy Italian street. Rain drips off your glasses as you try to read the map your cruise line provided, searching for Mercato Centrale di Livorno—the Livorno Central […]
By Alexandra Ronn You save meWhen I am a new kid in schoolShy, awkward, four-eyes, tinsel-teethBlushing all shades of pink and redEighth grade lab partner, note-passer, new best friendYou say we’re two peas in a podI smileYou lead, I follow High school together, we laugh […]
By Jerome Berglund Artist Statement: Richfield, Minnesota photographer Jerome Berglund has explored a variety of themes, figuratively following a principle of fatalistic discovery within the chaos of natural elements spiraling through his daily experience and environment to seek out and construct—via a scavenger hunt of […]
By Kara Noble “I’m going to break your arm!” The old man slams her to the emergency room floor, wrenches her arm behind her, wedges his knee in her back. His fingernails gouge her wrist, then jerk up and away. She pinches her eyes shut […]
By Amy Jordan Cronin My fortieth birthday is imminent. I tell myself that age is just a number and that 40 is a glorious age to reach, a milestone denied to many. Yet this birthday symbolizes so much more. While I exalt the virtues of […]
By Catherine Palmer You might think your personal essay is complete, but wait until you try this twist! I’m going to show (not tell) you how to deconstruct, reduce, remix, and shape your essay so that it feels like you’re writing a new one from […]
By Allison Landa You wanted it to be a miscarriage and so it was. It was just some blood. You’d seen worse. It was a little bit of cramping. Nothing you couldn’t handle. An interruption in an otherwise stultifying and ordinary day. Under most circumstances […]
By Erin Binney Swatches of sand, nuggets of gravel, and shreds of skin cling to my right forearm, held in place by fresh blood. This is what happens when you’re nearing the end of your run on the bike path, can barely lift your feet, […]