Don Hall 7/27/26 Don Hall 7/27/26

We're Letting You Go

"You know, people misunderstand Human Resources. They think we're here for employees."

Don Hall 7/21/26 Don Hall 7/21/26

The Emergency Exit

“Chuck had spent half his life mistaking another person’s pain for his assignment.”

Don Hall 7/15/26 Don Hall 7/15/26

The Broken Machine

Jack took a deep breath. "Why is it so easy for you to dismiss the truth for your convenience? You have to understand that the personal is political, right?

Brett Dworski 7/15/26 Brett Dworski 7/15/26

Wild One

They entered the open-brick condo eager to rip each other’s clothes off. Maria rubbed the front of Eric’s kakis, while he slid his fingers up her red bubble skirt. He tore her white blouse and sucked from her shoulders down to her fingertips. Maria unbelted Eric’s pants and chucked the leather across the room.

Paul Teodo 7/15/26 Paul Teodo 7/15/26

Blink

He blinked again. His cheek no longer soothed by the wooden floor beneath it. A wisp of intrusive dust drifted towards him, settling on his lashes. A laborious blink, his only remedy, then another, the particle unmoving.

David Himmel 7/15/26 David Himmel 7/15/26

Conversations with Whores

Old men with cheap cigars talking to half naked women, who can’t waste too much time with one guy because it’s all about turnover. Beyoncé was playing on the jukebox and it sounded out of place. Hip-Hop didn’t belong there. It was too cool for what was really going on.

David Himmel 7/15/26 David Himmel 7/15/26

Hagatha the Dog Witch

Hagatha, upon arriving in Chicago, had developed an allergy to cats. She tried Zyrtec, Claritin and Allegra, and all the potions and spells in her Witch Craft: Curses & Remedies book. Nothing helped. Her eyes watered, which made her face melt a little.

Jenni Thurston 7/15/26 Jenni Thurston 7/15/26

Roses of Aphrodite

She had the admiration of the gods and mortals alike. But the thorns of the rose were in her heart, and she longed for someone to remove them.

Don Hall 7/14/26 Don Hall 7/14/26

Grizzly

He lied there, the beast breathing slowly, and wondered what happened? Where was his wife? Did she do this to him? Why?

Joe Mallon 7/14/26 Joe Mallon 7/14/26

Jackie Walsh

From the porch, the two men listened to the thundering bass of rumbling trucks on journeys north and south along the Dan Ryan Expressway. To the west, Halsted teased out the melodies of car horns beeping and tires squealing, a harsh cacophony of symphonic summer street noises.

They smoked their tobacco.

Joe Mallon 12/7/24 Joe Mallon 12/7/24

Jackie Walsh

From the porch, the two men listened to the thundering bass of rumbling trucks on journeys north and south along the Dan Ryan Expressway. To the west, Halsted teased out the melodies of car horns beeping and tires squealing, a harsh cacophony of symphonic summer street noises.

They smoked their tobacco.

David Himmel 10/15/24 David Himmel 10/15/24

Today! Casey Basch Funeral!

CASEY BASCH – FUNERAL TODAY!

The exclamation mark had to be a mistake. Maybe it was a prank—the work of teenagers out the night before? There was probably a church sign somewhere in town that read JESUS LOVES DICK.

Wayne Lerner 7/27/24 Wayne Lerner 7/27/24

THE MANAGEMENT COUNCIL

Once the merger is announced, I’ll resign and ask them to do the same. They won’t suspect the truth.

Wayne Lerner 6/11/24 Wayne Lerner 6/11/24

The Cold Case

This situation is called a Gordian knot. It’s a devilish problem with no clear solution. You can’t untie a Gordian knot. You have to cut right through it.

Don Hall 2/20/24 Don Hall 2/20/24

Single Sided Love at First Sight

Frog found his soulmate. Scorpion had found a way out of her pattern. He asked her to marry him on their third date.

Wayne Lerner 12/12/23 Wayne Lerner 12/12/23

The Cold Case

I’m sure he killed my aunt. There’s no way she would’ve have killed herself and left him my cousins.

Jenni Thurston 9/7/23 Jenni Thurston 9/7/23

The Cereal Wish | Part 8

I turned back to the window. The drones hovered only a moment, then toured to the right to spy through another apartment window like hornets trying to find their way into a hive. Some bored dudes in quarantine were probably trying to score a peep show.

Brett Dworski 9/6/23 Brett Dworski 9/6/23

The Cereal Wish | Part 7

“Those motherfuckers—spying on me again,” I said.

“Who’s spying on you?” Sarah asked.

Joe Janes 9/5/23 Joe Janes 9/5/23

The Cereal Wish | Part 6

Sarah was gone. All that was in the hall was a big box full of boxes of Product 19 on its side. I hate Product 19, but she wants me to eat it because it’s healthy. She must have bought it to make up for forgetting the cereal. “How is this my wish?” The genie was gone, too.

Joe Janes 9/4/23 Joe Janes 9/4/23

The Cereal Wish | Part 5

I wake up lying flat out in the entry hall closet we never use because we are too lazy to open the door. I’m lying on boxes of Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheerios I had wished into being. There are even some extras to make a pillow for my head. Melted chocolate is streaming out of the boxes like cookie blood. I can hear Maggie snuffling at the doorway.