Fliers

 She wakes up the way she always does, quickly and slowly. Her pulse, quick quick slow, quick quick slow. Quick, the adrenalin that flashes in her and it feels like she’s ready to run, to fly, the fooled, frail, exhausted body. Slow, being the fog. The numb-skulling pea-souper that doesn’t lift till two in the afternoon. All because of the goddamn pills; the pills she took first for performance anxiety, then when Frank died, and now she is enslaved to their little white wiles.

The August 2014 edition of Long Story, Short Journal is 'Fliers' by UK writer Nichola Bendall, with artwork by Zoë J. Murdoch. The story brings us intertwining narratives of three individuals struggling against lives of confinement, when flight is what they desire. Against the backdrop of political elections, 'Fliers' employs a subtle use of satire, encouraging readers to consider the consequences of both action and inaction. CLICK HERE TO READ 'FLIERS'.

Lake House

View fullsize

Photo © Kristen Johansen

Smoke inhalation, electrocution by live lines, roof collapse. Burning. Any of those deaths might have seemed more normal, or at least appropriately courageous. If he’d rushed straight into hell with a pike pole and a booster line, no one would have batted an eye. But Gus died in bed. And that didn’t sit well with some people.

American writer Jason Kapcala is the author of the July edition of Long Story, Short Journal. 'Lake House' explores the question of how a person constructs their own legacy. Readers are immersed in the crucible of risk and relationships, questioning exactly how much 'fire' one can cope with while maintaining human connections. Photo provided by Kristen Johansen. READ 'LAKE HOUSE'.

The Cowboy

View fullsize

Photo © Gareth Wray

It was rumoured that the farmer who lived in the house with the twelve chimneys, had a set of medieval stocks in one of his rundown sheds, and that trespassers caught on his land doing anything at all, including just breathing, were bundled into his tractor and taken to be put in those stocks and dear knows what else. Boon often sat in the pub listening to such tales and watching them pass from one cigarette curl to another, as faces leaned in around tables then burst into glorious arrays of white teeth and laughter. 

The June edition of Long Story, Short Journal brings us to the crossroads of short stories and the Irish storytelling tradition. 'The Cowboy'  by Northern Irish author Jamie Guiney is a humorous piece following the exploits of a man whose reputation for pilfering the local farmer's fields may be catching up with him. Photo by Gareth Wray. CLICK HERE TO READ 'THE COWBOY'.

Blame it on the Rain

View fullsize

Photo © Pierre Melloul

It is always raining when I do these things. Any port in a storm, gimme shelter from the storm, stormy weather, raindrops keep falling on my head. My eyes will be turning red soon. Oh. Pathetic fallacy...

'Blame it on the Rain' is a psychologically complex portrait of a woman whose mind is swinging between grasping need and gravid interiority. Michelle Auerbach, author of The Third Kind of Horse, brings us the stylistically unique May 2014 edition of Long Story, Short Journal. Photo by Pierre Melloul. CLICK HERE TO READ 'BLAME IT ON THE RAIN'.

School of Life

View fullsize

Photo © Jorinde Reijnierse

It sounded like a reply to a lonely hearts ad. And wasn’t he making his belated approach way too personal (as well as way too late)? Christ, she was only some movie industry woman he had talked to at a party, admittedly the first soirée in years he had felt mentally able to attend. Did he, in fact, come across as the type of dangerous individual whose innocuous email begins a decade of stalking?

'School of Life' is a portrait of a writer fueled by a sense of entitlement who becomes obsessed with the object of his rejection, a darker ancestor of Gogol's 'Overcoat'. London-based Jude Cook is the author of the novel 'Byron Easy'. Dutch photographer Jorinde Reijnierse provides the image for the April 2014 edition. CLICK HERE TO READ 'SCHOOL OF LIFE'.

Pussy Bratchford is on the Verge of Becoming a Good Christian

View fullsize

Photo © Elias Vella

Pussy Bratchford is on the verge of becoming a good Christian. Now that he has given up sex and ketamine, he gets his kicks bidding at auctions and leaving without paying. He makes plenty money on the drag circuit, where he calls his audience gee-bags, muff divers and swords swallowers. One time, when he hosted bingo, he asked the crowd had anyone got a line when he spotted an RTE children’s presenter in the audience and told her ‘not the kind of line you’re thinking of’. The one from the telly broke her hole laughing.

"Pussy Bratchford is on the Verge of Becoming a Good Christian" is an irreverent and tender portrait of a drag queen in Dublin. With the love and support of his grandmother, the young man is transported from a small rural town and mild life to an existence he makes entirely his own. We meet him just as he has the chance to return her support. At once cheeky and vulnerable, the March edition of Long Story, Short Journal is dedicated to drag queen and activist Panti Bliss. Story by Irish writer Jamie O'Connell; photo by Elias Vella. CLICK HERE TO READ "PUSSY BRATCHFORD IS ON THE VERGE OF BECOMING A GOOD CHRISTIAN."

Hand Me Downs

It was one of those gut-feelings, a finger that prodded Steve in the side telling him to remember the night before or face its accusing wag; as though everything that happened was solely his fault. Yet Steve wondered how much of it was, it had all started so long ago.
 

In 'Hand Me Downs' a man reconstructing what happened the night before leads him down a path extending further and further back, to meet the origin of 'where things went wrong'. Kelly Creighton's story is both gritty and emotionally apt, and continues the LSS tradition of tales of love lost--just in time for Valentine's Day. Click here to read 'Hand Me Downs'.

Nutella

 Laura woke with two languages on her tongue. She gave herself a moment to remember where she was, then she eased back the sheets and pulled herself out of bed. Crossing the bedroom, she pulled the window wide. When she leant out, she could see over the garden to the Château at Valençay. In the light of the early morning, it looked more imposing than ever. Laura let her gaze drop back into the garden. The sun had already started to heat up and patterns of shade were appearing on the lawn. She felt a flash of contentment that was quickly followed by disappointment: already she knew this would be the best part of her day.

Set on Bastille Day in the French countryside, Nutella is a classic 'lonely voice' story which follows the life of an au pair who has left her home country with a secret she hopes to protect. Katie M. Anderson's portrait of youth on the cusp of responsibility makes for an engaging read. CLICK HERE TO READ 'NUTELLA'.

Forests of Antarctica

“That's it. Three weeks worth of stuff packed in twenty minutes. It might be a personal best,” Sam said, hovering in the doorway. It was after midnight when Sam walked into the kitchen of their cottage, where Diana liked to do her work at the massive butcher block table, and he looked tired but there was a warm glow in his cheeks. Diana stared at the screen, typing things that she would have to erase later and making notes that meant nothing.

'The Forests of Antarctica' by Courtney Watson takes place in Ushuaia, Argentina--the last stop before Antarctica--where the motto is the end of the world, the beginning of everything. Here we find a couple coping with the strain of distance as the husband ventures off on long-term scientific expeditions, leaving his wife to welcome a visitor from his past. Watson's work is understated and moving, accompanied by a photo by Russian photographer Dimitrii Smirnov. CLICK HERE TO READ FORESTS OF ANTARCTICA.

The Boat

Water, water, everywhere, but not inside me; my organs, these vitals, they rattle like dusty pebbles. I understand those tubercular poets of the 19th century. In a slow decline, you reach for the pen...

'The Boat' by Hugh Fulham-McQuillan is a humorous story set against the backdrop of the post-Celtic Tiger recession, with its hero and his companions attempting to take a relaxing sun holiday at a seaside resort of repossessed properties and abandoned boats. With a single copy of Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim to entertain them, the companions strike out on a seafaring excursion that will test their survival skills and their friendships. CLICK HERE TO READ 'THE BOAT'.

Drayman

Not until he was past the Deluxe did Teo notice the absolute quiet of the garden... Stepping along the perimeter he followed low, unintelligible wisps of voices in the air to the edge of the hill. Their backs to him in a closed phalanx, the patrons stood pointing towards the low horizon. Following the imperative of their fingertips, Teo turned to see in the distance tall, gossamer spirals of smoke rising like dried weed stalks here and there in the town.

October 2013's issue is a harrowing tale of an 'everyman' living in the Philippines in the 1940s, caught in an invasion by Japanese soldiers. The struggle for survival, the pain of witness and the question 'Am I my brother's keeper?' are themes deeply explored in Karl Shaddox's tale. The plight of Teo, a contemporary Sisyphus, will not be easily forgotten by readers of 'Drayman'.  CLICK HERE TO READ 'DRAYMAN'. 

Sundown

View fullsize

Photo © Ola Zackrisson

Angela wondered how far from home Pearl actually was, and what kind of trouble she’d found. Accustomed to shielding her mother from Pearl’s problems, Angela shoved this fear to the back of her mind and steeled herself for this encounter, not sure what she’d find: a self-pitying decline or a ramped-up snit.

 'Sundown' is the story of a woman struggling to keep contacts with both her estranged daughter, and her mother who is unhappy with life in a nursing home. It is an exploration of grief, punctuated by moments of transcendent beauty, encouraging the reader to find solace in patience and hope. Writer Jan English Leary's short-story collection manuscript, Frequent Losers, was named a finalist in the Flannery O’Connor Award. CLICK HERE TO READ 'SUNDOWN'.