Oct/Nov 2004

e c l e c t i c a
f i c t i o n

Fiction


(These are excerpts—click on the title to view the whole piece!)
 

Greta Garbo's Hair Was Made in Egypt

Mr. Clancy nods and smiles. "I take you on your word 'cause I like your Ma a lot, and plus I think you've some clever quirks, really. Odd, but you're an honest kid. Am I wrong? Honest?"

Tim Keane
 

The Ride Home

Eyes fixed on the table, Meng Choon ate his dinner, his wife by his side. The sound of a clanking spoon interspersed with occasional burps. The walls, bare save a cheap calendar with a picture of a Chinese maiden and perforated date pages, seemed to watch over them.

Siew Siang Tay
 

Control of Europe

Bill's wife is an ice-cool blonde, square of shoulder and fringe: not a head of state to be trifled with. With her I make a pact not to hinder French interests in the Mediterranean, providing she assist me by needling our black-helmeted Kaiser.

Bill Collopy
 

Fat and the Art of Fishing

My nephew Jack is a solid little guy but well proportioned. When I take him fishing though, I don't care about what he's going to look like, I care about whether he's going to be a fisherman, like me.

Chris Bleach
 

Gyalwa

Contrary to popular beliefs, dreamers do live in the real world, they do have goals, and they do achieve. But if you achieve anything less than your dream, it means nothing. If you're a dreamer, you will understand, You can't go lower than the plan you started with.

Roger Duncan
 

Virgin Annie

She threw up her arms. "Me being Korean," she said, weighing each word, "has something to do with me not jumping into intercourse." She sealed her lips.

Michael Bahler
 

Second Place in the Vanity Fair Essay Contest

In El Paso, they sold the car and took the dog, two backpacks, the money from the car, and my father's three thousand dollar inheritance, and they crossed the border into Mexico, heading due south.

Eli S. Evans
 

On the Subject of Window Cleaning

"That's right, Alfred. Are you listening, class? Did you hear what Alfred said? Anything can happen. But we must learn from the world. We must see in its confusion, form. We must thread patterns in the way of a seam. A fabric. We must wear it like a dress. Anything can happen, and it will."

Duncan White
 

A New Neighborhood

This is the bit where I should step down onto the sidewalk and walk away, but his face has already opened towards me, and I'm snagged, waiting for his words. The muscle at the top of my stomach is contracting, trying to tell me that he's only going to ask for money or try to take it from me by force.

Mark Vender