University of San Francisco's Student-Run Literary Magazine
by Colleen Markley Clarice wasn’t sure which was odder: that she was becoming invisible or that her husband hadn’t noticed. “I must be overtired,” she remarked to John, examining the skillet she was scrubbing through an opening in the back of her hand. Was this glaucoma? She glanced up from the suds to the window… Continue reading Vanishing Act
by Melissa Ridley Elmes There’s a chill in the air, that specific, cool undercurrent in the light autumn wind that heralds the changing of the seasons. Though the trees have only just begun their annual parade of fiery colors, the sense of quiet ending that comes with the final leaf tippling from the final branch,… Continue reading October Mourning
by Sean Padraic McCarthy When Julia awoke, her mother was already up, sitting at the table in the kitchen, looking out the back window upon the wood. There was a steep hill rising up from the edge of the wood, and now it wasn’t summer anymore, and all the leaves were gone from the trees,… Continue reading The Devil in the Wood
by Joe Baumann Fritz hid the wings for Otto’s wake. He donned the Ted Baker trench coat Otto gifted him nearly a decade before and which Fritz had given more care and attention than any other possession so that it still looked new, wearing it over his sports coat, beneath which the wings were pinned.… Continue reading Vulture
by Alex Scaife I Water drained slowly into the copper pipes beneath me, with a churning sound that continued until the spinning mass of liquid had disappeared. I lay naked with damp, tangled strands falling across my face and beads of sweat clinging to my forehead. Red veins meandered through the whites of my eyes… Continue reading Mayakovsky
by Alex Landrum Tyler looked up at the hard, blue sky. A vulture swooped with its black wings stretched into a V. The twelve-year-old boy shuddered. He couldn’t believe what had happened. His stomach knotted with fear just as his foot turned on a piece of loose gravel that caused him to skid forward, bumping… Continue reading Martin’s Last Task
by Edward Michael Supranowicz Julie wandered the street like an orphan, an orphan of everything. Her clothes hung on her like she had slipped into them absentmindedly and was still trying to put them on. Her straight black hair was clipped into brutal bangs in the front and straight across on the sides and back,… Continue reading Middle of a Room
by Rowan MacDonald I met the badger on a cold night in May, in the cobblestone alley two streets down from the Rose and Crown. I needed to pee after too many pints of the Crown’s finest and knew my bladder wouldn’t survive a journey to the nearest taxi rank. The alley was deserted and… Continue reading What a Badger Might Say If You Met Him Down a Dark Alley One Night in May
by Nicole Cifani Lehmann-Haupt I’ve figured out how to solve for the coworker crush. Since we work remotely, all I have to do is find a way to see her in person. By doing so, I will prove to myself that the entire notion of fantasy-based infatuation is a myth, predicated on old sailor songs… Continue reading Coworker Crush
by Marina Hill Hudson sat on the dirty plastic seat on the six train on November sixth, riding downtown to work. Middle of the week. Saturday could not come faster even if it wanted to. Saturday knew it was most desired and loved to play the tease—cheeky bastard. New Yorkers shoved their way into the… Continue reading AirPods on the Six Train
