By Kevin Brockmeier
Space might be the final frontier. But when the “Keptin” left the “Endeavour” for a pleasure getaway and fell for a woman, a very different man returned to his command.

By Rachel Sherman
They played with Keith because his parents let them do whatever they wanted — even if Keith preferred to just read and ignore their teasing. They were 12 years old and there were intricate, unspoken rules of friendship. But then Keith started hanging out with an older friend, and one night, the entire dynamic shifted.

By Meaghan Mulholland When Allison came around the house she saw Wallace right away, sitting on his parents’ deck overlooking the fenced-in chessboard of neighboring backyards. His blond hair had been shaved almost to the scalp and he wore mirrored aviator sunglasses, and these things in combination made him look strange, unlike himself; he looked [...]

By Jami Attenberg
Two actresses on the cusp of 40 both covet fame. Their choice of set boyfriends on a thriller flick just might determine their futures.

By J. Courtney Sullivan It was the end of November 1942, and Emily Brennan was hungry. She had only allowed herself one hard-boiled egg on dry toast for each meal of the last fourteen days. The dry toast wasn’t much of a sacrifice since they’d started rationing butter. Her mother bought the substitute — just [...]

By Barry Hannah He himself might be one of just another confused but adamant sect. This idea had crossed his mind, since he was certain there was much to repay or regain from his past woes and he knew who had burned the small church on the verge of Wall Doxey Park that Wednesday evening. [...]

By Joshua Furst
High school sucks. The college counselors only want to talk to the AP kids, and they’re jerks. Mom and Dad are getting divorced, which is fine. You didn’t understand how she stayed married to that guy anyway. The only thing that feels real are the voices on the radio.

By Malena Watrous No babies.  That was Cinda’s number one rule when she flipped through the binder at the babysitting service counter, scanning the listings, making phone calls and filling up her day planner.  A late start was good: less time before bedtime.  The higher the floor, the richer the family.  The Upper West Side [...]

By David Bajo
A scientist searching for rare plant growths in Mexico must balance his professional ambitions and outsider status — especially when his feelings for a woman complicate everything.

By Peter Bognanni It was approximately one week after our only daughter, Sonya, returned from her first year at college that we began to suspect something wasn’t right. In the beginning, it was a mystery without any clues. Just quiet. Quiet in the car on the way home from the train station. Quiet in the [...]

By Doug Dorst Let us strive to do what is in our power and guard ourselves against these poisonous little reptiles, for the Lord often desires that bad thoughts afflict and pursue us without our being able to get rid of them. Sometimes he even permits these reptiles to bite us. –St. Teresa of Avila, [...]

By Margaret Lazarus Dean Toby McFarland sat in a dark, angularly elegant conference room with twelve other people, waiting for the training session for his new job at Manitou Coffee to begin. The others ranged in age from late teens to mid-thirties, all neatly dressed in khakis and polo shirts. Golf clothes, Toby thought, looking [...]

By Alison McGhee
After a mysterious accident leaves him paralyzed, sixteen-year-old Joseph finds himself living with his father in Minneapolis and working hot summer days in a bakery. What happened to the life he used to live? Although they approach the mystery in different ways, two people in Joseph’s new life — seventeen-year-old Zap, who also works in the bakery, and Enzo, a fierce and funny nine-year-old girl, both want to find out.

By Ann Packer
Liz worked hard to be an understanding and wise parent, without crossing the line to become the easily manipulated type more interested in being their daughter’s friend than mother. But it was an everyday struggle, especially as Lauren worked through teenage trauma

By Nick Arvin
The capital is ablaze and the British are on the march. But war always provides risk and rewards to the unsavory — and sometimes men stop thinking about King, empire and country and start thinking about themselves.

By Lynne Tillman O, know, sweet love, I always write of you, / And you and love are still my argument; / So all my best is dressing old words new, / Spending again what is already spent; / For as the sun is daily new and old, / So is my love still telling [...]

By Alyson Hagy I was in Tampa, Florida to interview the world’s best tennis player when I met the sergeant.  I’d seen lots of military men in Tampa — at the airport, in restaurants.  Military men are the usual thing down there.  I guess they’re the usual thing everywhere these days.  I was in the [...]

By Panio Gianopoulos
A couple and her best friend. A ski trip. An offer. An acceptance. And then?

By Paul Yoon Her voice is what first comes to mind. In her pronunciations and their cadence a certain lucidity akin to when your body, if only for the briefest of moments, touches cold water. Like when she called and said, Your Papa, he is not laughing anymore. That was how she described it. Those [...]