Travis Flatt On Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at Studs, his taut biceps and pecs oiled, his flanks brushed to a sheen, where he’s got a stable of regular fans—customers, rather—to cheer at his …

by Michael Czyzniejewski...I felt compelled to sit, peck at the keys, so many of them missing, yet just enough, the exact keys that I needed still there: Despite me never playing before, not a note, I...

How do I assess if someone is lying What are somatic “cues” Most unobtrusive GPS tracking devices How do I install a GPS tracking device Can a phone detect a hidden tracker How much does average divor...

How do I assess if someone is lying What are somatic “cues” Most unobtrusive GPS tracking devices How do I install a GPS tracking device Can a phone detect a hidden tracker How much does average divor...

How do I assess if someone is lying What are somatic “cues” Most unobtrusive GPS tracking devices How do I install a GPS tracking device Can a phone detect a hidden tracker How much does average divor...

The Smart Search List of the Day is: Short Stories feat. @necessaryfiction.com @pitheadchapel.bsky.social et al. https://duotrope.com/search/smart/fiction/short-stories-A0oRqumk

You acquire a habit, then the habit is you. You are a person-sized container that the habit pours into. The habit fills to your edges. You are a transparent

Deirdre Danklin Seeking shelter from political podcasts, I started listening to the blues. I got kind of obsessed with watching a long-fingered musician play his guitar. My husband asked me what I …

Samantha Vargas I once met a vegetarian who had no problem shooting starlings that flew over her father’s vineyard. They’re pests she said. You’re a fucking pest I told her. I did…

Ausiàs Tsel   My son leaves the bread upside down because he is six and the world is a surface you can rearrange. It’s a barra—too long for the plate, too warm for patience—resting on the tab…

by Kim Magowan WAITING TO CROSS THE STREET, Linda watches a man drive through the intersection, and for a fraction of a second thinks he is Gary. His shock of graying hair, the crane-like way he hu…

You acquire a habit, then the habit is you. You are a person-sized container that the habit pours into. The habit fills to your edges. You are a transparent

You acquire a habit, then the habit is you. You are a person-sized container that the habit pours into. The habit fills to your edges. You are a transparent

An online journal of very short fictions -- under 1000 words.

Kim Magowan   My husband is Catholic and more devoted than I like, though it didn’t stop Matt from marrying me. In September, our ten-year-old son Ethan will be confirmed—a strange verb. As babies, bo...

Associate fiction editor Zoa Coudret on today’s bonus story: The aftermath of a marriage is difficult to capture succinctly, but Kim Magowan illuminates a range of emotions and makes the characters p...

COVER ART BY JANELLE PAULINO   FICTION GRIEF WORK, LLC BY KEITH WOODRUFF BELLY BY SUTTON STROTHER THE CENTAUR DANCES THE GIDDY-UP BUCK BY TRAVIS FLATT PET LOVER BY ANTHONY BROWN   NONFICT…

Reviewed by Erin Vachon In the titular story to Kim Magowan’s The Last Day [Moon City Press, March 2026], a narrator finds a High Voltage dahlia that looks like a crimson loofah. She texts her husband...

An online journal of short fiction, literary nonfiction, and poetry, published regularly. Cutleaf Journal is a project of @eastoverpress.

Associate CNF Editors Wanted! JMWW applications are open until June 14th.

A collection in which the poet takes stock of her personal disillusionment, which she uses to interrogate her relationship to her art form, community and politics.

by Nora Esme Wagner   Don’t bring your girlfriend to Thanksgiving. In one month, you will discover the naked photos she sent to the barista you both find cute, with an undercut and patchwork t…

Winter 2026