Issue 10 Flash Fiction Archives

Kevin Winchester

In A Familiar America

In A Familiar America https://i2.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/37725410_10161066618280179_8707476259069755392_n.jpg?fit=960%2C960&ssl=1 960 960 Kevin Winchester Kevin Winchester https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Kevin-Winchester.jpg 07/27/2019 07/28/2019

A cliché: A quiet house that looks like a house in a familiar America. The upstairs bedroom adorned with pastel lamp, quilted flowered comforter, tie-backs on the curtains, muted sunlight…

Mahesh Nair

1984, Delhi

1984, Delhi https://i0.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Divided.jpg?fit=569%2C797&ssl=1 569 797 Mahesh Nair Mahesh Nair https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/maheshnair.jpg 07/27/2019 07/28/2019

The river was dry with grains of white sugar. Whenever we were drowning in the granules, I ate a mouthful of the sweetener, keeping all of us afloat. Mom and…

Matthew Banash

Keep Your Head Up, Kid

Keep Your Head Up, Kid https://i2.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/8-Downtown.jpg?fit=1280%2C851&ssl=1 1280 851 Matthew Banash Matthew Banash https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/mattbanash.jpg 07/27/2019 07/29/2019

The kid had forgotten what day it was. His old man, sitting at the kitchen table in his VFW uniform, drinking breakfast and smoking lunch, said, “Happy Birthday, kid,” gestured…

Olajide A. Omojarabi

Confessions

Confessions https://i1.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/11.jpg?fit=1920%2C1440&ssl=1 1920 1440 Olajide A. Omojarabi Olajide A. Omojarabi https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/olajideomorabi.jpg 07/27/2019 07/28/2019

The fluorescent bulb blinks every second, and each time it flashes my mind races. Udemz comes from behind, a mind reader, and bends to meet my gaze in the mirror.…

Ulrica Hume

Mistress of Alchemy

Mistress of Alchemy https://i2.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/15-Almost-Heaven.jpg?fit=1280%2C851&ssl=1 1280 851 Ulrica Hume Ulrica Hume https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ulricahume.jpg 07/27/2019 07/28/2019

History could have been so different, you once said. And it is true: reality is slippery, evanescent, problematic, perhaps it is all for the best that a peasant goes on…

Patricia Q. Bidar

Errand

Errand https://i0.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Image-7.jpg?fit=1920%2C1440&ssl=1 1920 1440 Patricia Q. Bidar Patricia Q. Bidar https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/patriciabidar.jpg 07/27/2019 07/28/2019

I edge my sister’s yellow Beetle near the old Karamel Korner. Although it is only ten, the blacktop sticks audibly to the soles of my Doc Martens. I am not…

Billy Petersen

Thermostat

Thermostat https://i1.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/7-Neighbors.jpg?fit=1280%2C851&ssl=1 1280 851 Billy Petersen Billy Petersen https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/billypeterson.jpg 07/27/2019 07/28/2019

In the hot kitchen, his mother was washing lettuce. He sat at the table scissoring the sleeves off his black T-shirt, the one with the print of an orange cat.…

Rosey Lee

Vocal Rest

Vocal Rest https://i2.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/IMG_6070.jpg?fit=1066%2C1600&ssl=1 1066 1600 Rosey Lee Rosey Lee https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/roseylee.jpg 07/27/2019 07/28/2019

“You didn’t like naps when you were little,” Mama said, removing the throw pillows from my bed and stacking them atop the chaise lounge. “I guess that comes in handy…

Melanie Czerwinski

Small Saints

Small Saints https://i2.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/IMG_7318.jpg?fit=1242%2C1244&ssl=1 1242 1244 Melanie Czerwinski Melanie Czerwinski https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/melanieczerwinski.jpg 07/27/2019 07/28/2019

When I was in elementary school, I drew red marks on my palms and told the teacher I had stigmata. I didn’t keep wounds open with phenol like Saint Padre…