Our dog, dachsund-and-chihuahua, fell redly to us from her family tree. After the usual medical exam, shots, spaying, and licensing, she was with us for 17 years. But one day in her middle age, we had just finished dinner and were eating fruit, and someone gave her a dark purple plum. Instead of immediately eating … Continue reading Plum Mother by Michael Nickels-Wisdom| Lost Balloon
Nigel’s mother wants you to wear the lily-white wedding gown with a tiara headpiece and a thin gauzy veil. She is a Catholic Brahmin matriarch. Your mother, a Hindu Brahmin matriarch, wants you to wear a red and yellow Kanjeevaram silk saree with a shiny zari border in paisley design. You wear a cream raw … Continue reading Bridal Wear by Brunda Moka-Dias| Lost Balloon
An accounting, since you tend to divide the world into what’s yours and what can never be. The silver sleeve of a Frosted Blueberry Pop-Tart packet on the kitchen counter, one left. Your daughter n…| Lost Balloon
I saw my first picture of spontaneous human combustion in fourth grade. A black and white photo of shoe and ash. Laces in bunny ears. Mom taught me the bunny ear song to help me learn to tie my sho…| Lost Balloon
The summer I turned fourteen, after I arrived in New York City from small town Ohio for the very first time, I wrote a letter to Ron Sobieski, my very first real boyfriend, to say I couldn’t see him anymore because he wasn’t Jewish. Before that, Mom and Dad announced they would not allow me … Continue reading Fireworks by Sharon Goldberg| Lost Balloon
After the hostage townsfolk are freed, the bandits run off or gunned down in the street, and a fine speech given by the rotund mayor, after one last ‘adios’ dropped to a freckled/gap-toothed adolescent before the hero rides into the sunset, the town remains. The woman waving her handkerchief turns away at last, goes back … Continue reading The Town Is Not Saved by Brandon Forinash| Lost Balloon
He slapped me three plastic bullets and a gun. “Aim at the prize,” a toothpick danced between his lips as he spoke. I took the gun and aimed at the sheep doll across the counter. Aim. Hit. Miss. Fr…| Lost Balloon
I left you there, in the hollow. What I mean is, the person who crawled out after me like the white rabbit from wonderland wasn’t you, though she looked like you and sounded like you and said she w…| Lost Balloon
My brother and I attempt awkward conversation at a Chinese restaurant near the dive motel where he lives. I try not to stare at his teeth: gray, chipped, missing. Dark, square caves in his mouth. How to get him to a dentist? He rarely leaves his motel room. I’ve been obsessed with those teeth since … Continue reading The Ace of Teeth by Claudia Monpere| Lost Balloon
My monster fits in my pocket, but when we’re relaxing in the evening, watching TV, he sleeps on my chest. I like police procedurals where they catch murderers. (I like the American ones especially.…| Lost Balloon
