God Hates Cleveland
It was still an hour until tip-off and Dad was already ashing his cigarette into his coffee. This was the moment he’d waited his entire life for, he said. The moment that his father had waited his entire life for—may …
Category: Fiction
A Dam Is a Promise
Before Buckeye Lake dam failed, Noah’s Ark was a Little Golden Book on Jon Fortner’s daughter’s bookshelf. Before Buckeye Lake dam failed, it had gone by other names. In 1750, the area that would become Buckeye Lake was described as a …
Far Behind
You’re out of the car, I’m afraid you’ve been declined You shake my hand while you’re pissing on my leg “Are you playing that stupid Social Distortion song again?” Chloe calls from outside the bathroom, for what seems like the …
DETROIT: from “Your Life Idyllic”
The following is a character sketch from the short story “An Affliction of Starlings” from Bernier’s forthcoming collection “Your Life Idyllic,” which won the St. Lawrence Book Award, available April 2014. My parents were both Quebecois, but stopped speaking French …
Milwaukee: Home
An excerpt from the 2013 Fall issue Flight 115 from Tampa to Milwaukee left at 2:25pm, she had gotten to the airport the usual two hours early, and four drinks in. It had been over three years since she had …