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Fiction Touched by Fire Ann Tinkham I whisked his cheek with my mermaid hair--corkscrews, seaweed and ancient salt. He exhaled wild sage and coriander. In Real Life Grant Flint I have no time. I'm a good person. They say. They don't know what I know. My sonís one-year death anniversary for jumping off the Bay Bridge was six days ago. Bananas Elizabeth McCulloch She was by the bananas. They put them at the end, one whole big table full of themópeople buy a lot of bananas. She wasnít buying though. She was just standing there, peeling them. Nowhere Train Margaret Coulson Mindy's friends had all been delightfully shocked when she announced her decision to go teach in China. They were even more flabbergasted when she told them where. Haining. Not Shanghai. Not Beijing. Not a place that could conjure images of Mao suits or great walls or parades or pandas or jazz clubs or gangsters or impossibly tall buildings. The Rug Patty Somlo The concrete floor appeared permanently scarred, with gasoline and oil, of course, and substances Saeed didnít want to consider. Along the walls, though, the floor looked cleaner. He tried to imagine the direction of Mecca, because heíd found a place in one corner that looked the cleanest and where no one was likely to notice the rug. Little Victories, Big Canyons Benjy Caplan Was there a worse fate than waiting for the bus? Kristin didnít think so but in fairness, the circumstances of her life (no kids, on a diet) never really led her to think about infanticide or famine. The bus: how humiliating. Thirteen and Spring Dean Ballard Mitch Ryder shouted like a lunatic greaser racing down Woodward Avenue in a '66 Mustang at night. This is where it begins if you're a white rock and roll kid from Detroit. From there you move on to The Stooges and The MC5, cross over to The Romantics, then leap right into The White Stripes and The Dirtbombs. Late Lunch Eric D. Goodman Heíd fulfilled his dream on the train, always meeting new people and having interesting conversations, but never being forced to get too intimate. On again and off again, none of them latched on for a lifetime. Clyde is as Big as a Hero Stanley B. Trice Clyde wondered if she had a Rubik Cube personality. Having a relationship with her would be extra work that could burn off calories. Get a psycho girlfriend, stress over why you got her, and worry when she leaves. Love Me Tender Vivian Lawry Elvis had skate parties for nine days before he reported to the Army, but Mom didn’t work any of them, and Doris wouldn’t let me in alone after hours. Every night I lay awake, wondering whether he looked for me at the rink. Returns John P. Loonam Two weeks after Emily broke off our engagement, I found myself in the Bed Bath and Beyond on 6th Avenue, returning a pair of champagne flutes, and hoping to see her returning other wedding presents, but I didn't. Averted Vision Timothy Reilly My thoughts shift, habitually, to the old chestnut about Mark Twain entering the world in tandem with Halley's Comet, and his prophetic musing that he would stick around until the comet made a return visit. I consider the fact that I was born the same year the first H-bomb was detonated, and am troubled by the parallel. Allegory Tricia Sutton Hearing impaired most her life, she knows a thing or two about loneliness: always there but never included. Communication is the barrier to potential friendships. Groups shun her. Individuals move on, feeling detached. Kelly Elizabeth McMunn-Tetangco At the buffet table, I had felt virtuous, well, and Mediterranean, imagining the nutrients trans-substantiated into glowing flesh spreading like balm over my non-remarkable bones. I like that: trans-substantiated nutrition. Love Me Tender Catherine Uroff If things worked out with Don, if he ever left his wife (her name was Claire and she was a Creative Memories consultant, that was about all Bonnie had gotten to know about her), Bonnie would have an instant family.

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