Issue 13 Flash Fiction

Mary Mattingly

Janey and Her Bad Brain

Janey and Her Bad Brain https://i0.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/janeyandherbadbrain.jpg?fit=1620%2C1080&ssl=1 1620 1080 Mary Mattingly Mary Mattingly https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/marymattingly.png 03/07/2020 03/07/2020

Janey is standing at the corner of University and Main, wind blowing through stringy bottle-blonde locks. She is contemplating clapping a hand over her eyes and walking straight into the…

Anna Moore

Decision in Texas, 1994

Decision in Texas, 1994 https://i1.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Forgotten-Plaza-1920x1424-1.jpg?fit=1920%2C1424&ssl=1 1920 1424 Anna Moore Anna Moore https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/annamoore.png 03/07/2020 03/07/2020

David and I are dating a week when he drives us to his house. “I like being out in the country,” he says. The Austin sprawl has become hard-ground desert,…

Lucy Zhang

The People Without Faces

The People Without Faces https://i2.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/peoplewithoutfaces.jpg?fit=1067%2C1600&ssl=1 1067 1600 Lucy Zhang Lucy Zhang https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/lucyzhang.png 03/07/2020 03/07/2020

No one has a face in this village. They are born with canvases of skin stretched from chin to hairline; had they had faces to begin with, their nostrils and…

J. Edward Kruft

My Father’s Underwear

My Father’s Underwear https://i0.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/capeann.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1 1080 1080 J. Edward Kruft J. Edward Kruft https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/jedwardkruft.png 03/07/2020 03/07/2020

My father died putting on his underwear. He managed the first leg, but on the next go around, he hooked his big toe on the elastic and did a header…

Mary-Jane Holmes

Scarab

Scarab https://i2.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/shipleyfarm.jpg?fit=1618%2C1080&ssl=1 1618 1080 Mary-Jane Holmes Mary-Jane Holmes https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/maryjaneholmes.png 03/07/2020 03/07/2020

Eva shooed a pair of nesting magpies from one of the skeps. A dead rose chafer beetle was trapped between the hive’s bindings. It shimmered in the burn of the…

Kate Maruyama

Not Yet

Not Yet https://i2.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/walkerevans.jpg?fit=1618%2C1080&ssl=1 1618 1080 Kate Maruyama Kate Maruyama https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/katemaruyama.png 03/07/2020 03/07/2020

Not yet. I have years left, I have plans. Hell, I’ve got arroz con pollo on simmer and the kids’ homework to finish. Jamie can manage his history this afternoon,…

Kelcee Sykes

Man of the House

Man of the House https://i1.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/img086.jpg?fit=1920%2C1536&ssl=1 1920 1536 Kelcee Sykes Kelcee Sykes https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/kelceesykes.png 03/07/2020 03/07/2020

Later, I will tell a different story. Around a lunch table I will tell wide-eyed friends that I snatched my sister’s baby-pink razor out of her shower caddy, covered my…

Molly Gabriel

Missing Piece

Missing Piece https://i1.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/HUSET_S_DOCK.jpg?fit=1920%2C1173&ssl=1 1920 1173 Molly Gabriel Molly Gabriel https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/mollygabriel.png 03/07/2020 03/07/2020

The flakes of blue polish still sparkled on the nail. The fingertip peeked between the reeds, flesh-colored and flimsy as a band aid. The knife and fishing line still thrown…

Brian Moore

The Girlfriend

The Girlfriend https://i0.wp.com/barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/img140-1.jpg?fit=1920%2C1246&ssl=1 1920 1246 Brian Moore Brian Moore https://barrenmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/brianmoore.png 03/07/2020 03/07/2020

After the police leave, Amanda refuses to go back to bed, saying she’s hungry even though it’s the middle of the night. Dennis microwaves leftovers and they both eat in…