The Night Sky
Looking west over the ocean, watching the yellow crescent moon dip behind the low strip of fog off the coast. It... more
Unfortunately, Chin fed her sock puppets too many vegetables. She didn't always feed them in front of me, but the smell of steamed... more
The man is older than the woman, but not by much. They're out for a stroll in the park, taking in the sunshine and fresh air. "Look at... more
We Couldn't All Be Cowboys
Timmy Pringle always told everyone he wasn't named after a chip, and then when he started to... more
Not more than two steps in and Ali had the Sadness Museum exhibit sized up.
Her words, This exhibit is sad, sad, sad.
I tried to... more
One of the things that most fans don't know about NBA superstars, is that we like to meet in the off season... more
The Four Steps of Standard Plastination
1. Fixation
When Lily was born, it was decided she would be the last because the... more
Graham needs to be an interesting character. Graham is a doctor. Graham is a brain surgeon. Graham is a brain... more
It was a long time before slavery went away. The town kept their own slaves well into the Carnegie Administration, trading... more
How To Play Shit
My brothers Kimi and Mike left with their friend Carmen to steal some watermelon Now & Laters from the... more
The sun wasn't even fully up yet and there I was, on some stranger's roof, about to begin work for the day, when this girl, maybe four... more
All his life the boy threw knives. In his youth he threw knives only in his mind, pretended himself the central... more
Take it from inside you and draw it out. Do it before it decides you are not what you seem to be and, as a result, holds you up... more
In high school, dating Randall "Big Randy" Barton was a rite of passage for the small population of black girls at our... more
Carol Gipson had acne and was the slightest bit pudgy but she seemed like someone who would turn beautiful... more
I put on my suit. It's a business suit. I'm a businessman and I mean business. I mean 'business' with a big 'B' and an ampersand.... more
With apologies to Jorge Luis Borges' "Borges and I"
The other one, the one called Melcher, is the fuckup.
I travel a lot... more
Lucky
All these people. How did they do it? Well, many did not. Broke as eggs on sidewalks, sister. They were walking... more
penguins
For the penguins it is cold and sometimes it is cold like that in my bedroom, where I sleep, and the covers that... more
Slut Whore has every Barbie on the market, lined up sitting on her windowsill along her bedroom wall, and all the best clothes and... more
Near a mound of fresh dirt under a sprawling oak tree. Cannons rumble in the distance. Lounging next to... more
My friend Brandon has packed his friend's Jeep with provisions of snowballs, dried turkey, Finlandia. Observing the heaped... more
"I didn't want to ever be outside of this moment. I knew at some point I would look at the picture I'd just taken and feel an overwhelming sense of loss. I thought as long as we could manage to stay inside this particular hotel room, to avoid our phones and every person with whom we'd ever come into contact, we would continue to feel whole. We were revolutionaries, goddamnit. These were our accumulation of beautiful moments. Before the world fractured us. I don't expect you to understand how I became Brad Pitt in that moment, how we all just flew along down the highway. Bandits. Ex-patriots. In love with this countryside, if not this country. Paper Moon. The Last Picture Show. All of this shot in black and white. Only the final scene in color."
FOUR NEW ESSAYS BY CHLOE CALDWELL! Plus the original essays that made you fall in love with Chloe!
Jason Phoebe Rusch is a queer writer from the Chicago suburbs. His full-length debut Dualities explores gender and patriarchy from the perspective of a man who was socialized and is currently still read as a woman. He is interested in complication and nuance and messy human failing, his own and that of others.
