My first assignment was an infestation: albino deer flocking in townspeople's yards, grazing away what little greenery was left. I concocted a spray, biodegradable and harmless to plants but noxious to animals. The herd scattered like skeleton teeth in the foothills and starved. More recently, I was assigned to a village that had seen the face of God, every villager among them, which was why they were losing teeth and hair, why their bones had turned to meringue. His Divine Light had cut … [Read more...] about Father as Astronaut
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Dream of the White Worm
https://soundcloud.com/americanshortfiction/corey-flintoff-dream-of-the-white-worm Lynette bends to hug Robbie, who sits at the kitchen table with his coffee. She’s just woken up, and her cotton nightie still smells of their bed. “I dreamed I was grabbed by a huge white worm and dragged into a hole,” she says. “It was horrible.” He strokes her shoulders, feeling like he should pull her onto his lap and comfort her, but the space between the wall and the kitchen table is too narrow. “Jeez. … [Read more...] about Dream of the White Worm
Knausgaard in Space
https://soundcloud.com/americanshortfiction/tyler-stoddard-smith-knausgaard-in-space I aspire to dread, and so I embraced the opportunity to write about my struggle in outer space. As a boy in Oslo, I experienced the same dream people born in the Space Age had all over the world: the dream of having intercourse with Pat Benatar. I abandoned this dream when MTV stopped playing music videos and I never thought about space again, until my editor called. “I’ll see you in the next life,” I … [Read more...] about Knausgaard in Space
Save-A-Child
When the Boeing 727 takes off from Mitchell Airport, the bolts that hold the landing gear door in place are already unwinding. Eight miles away, Tucker Knoebel is making his way home early to the suburb of Oak Creek to be with his wife, Della. He loves entering the subdivision from the city when the streets turn from straight gray creases to lilting curves meant to mimic the flow of hills and rivers. Tucker sometimes feels like he is in his childhood train set among the metal models of the post … [Read more...] about Save-A-Child
Blind Oracle of Mactan
He is the blind oracle at Unchained Melody Massage Parlor. He specializes in foot rubs. He can stimulate all kinds of glands with pulls and pricks of the tendon and phalanges. He can, for example, make a person grow taller by pushing on the well of the big toe, which is the pituitary gland reflex point. Everyone knows this. He can also tell people’s fortunes. He made his first prophecy on April 26, 1521. He told Ferdinand Magellan, seated on a cane chair, feet bulbous from … [Read more...] about Blind Oracle of Mactan
You Haven’t Won Anything Yet
The officer shows me a photo of the missing child. “Is this you?” he says. “If it is,” I say, “do I win a prize?” He thinks it’s a joke and he narrows his eyes, but what he can’t see is I’m half-serious. The last time I opened my door for police, they went Gordon Ramsay on my couch cushions and earned me a cash settlement in the low four figures. This officer, with his acne scars, looks more like a Jehovah’s Witness. “Will you please take it?” He rattles the photocopy. I believe it’s … [Read more...] about You Haven’t Won Anything Yet