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You wanted something different.

A CONTINENT ENGULFED BY KATIE R MCKAY 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 120

It simply feels so bittersweet that you are finally allowing yourself to live out your life in the way you have wanted for so long, and he won’t be there to see it.



Are we sure about this?

ALL WHITE BY BEN UMAYAM 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 120

So what’s it gonna be girl? Do we want to do it or not? If we don’t do it now, who knows if we’ll ever do it.

Staring at the mirror in my bathroom with a joint burning my fingers I took stock of my existence. I had just agreed to commit a felony.

CRIME BY WILLIAM BURKE 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 120

I was going to lose my job. I guarded a warehouse full of laptops, tablets, and phones and this morning I had fallen asleep on the job.







Acquired.

NEIGHBOR, WHERE IS THAT CUP OF SUGAR YOU BORROWED? BY MITCH ALCANTARA 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 120

The mockery of Tear Here lines.

HARD TO OPEN BY JEFFREY THOMPSON 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 120


34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 120

A CONTINENT ENGULFED BY KATIE R MCKAY, NEIGHBOR, WHERE IS THAT CUP OF SUGAR YOU BORROWED? BY MITCH ALCANTARA, ALL WHITE BY BEN UMAYAM, HARD TO OPEN BY JEFFREY THOMPSON, CRIME BY WILLIAM BURKE.

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Mom says grandpa worked on some shark movie, and I’m, like, AMAZING!

JAWS IN C MINOR BY GEORGE WEHRFRITZ 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 119

Awesome! Second question: Was the, uh, film, important?



We occupied the in-between place.

THE GENTLEMAN THUG BY DIMITRIS PASSAS 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 119

The walkway was filled with an army of the living dead.



You can hear the sound of fishing.

IF NOT THE RIVER BY MELISSA MULVIHILL 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 119

And the faint sound of having come all this way for nothing.


I was released into the world.

ARRIVAL BY PAMELA WALKER 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 118

I stopped in horror. My beloved yellow Bug had vanished. Oh no! Someone stole my car.

Cotton tassels dangle

in the corners of a mind.

TASSELS BY SARAH JANE JUSTICE 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 118

There are many futures.

ARDIS PART ONE BY LINDSAY SMITH 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 118

Are you some crazy man? You’re telling me the photo hasn’t been taken yet?

My AI partner scolds me for bad praxis.

And they’re right.

MY AI PARTNER SCOLDS ME FOR BAD PRAXIS BY SHAUN HOLLOWAY 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 117

I’m here to pick up the painting.

BURNT SIENNA BY RICHARD BREYER 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 117

I need the painting. Larry made a big point about being back by four.


Delilah discovered this wine that’s only 14 bucks a bottle and pretty damn good.

WHAT GOOD IS LOVE BY EMILY GARCÍA 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 115

By the time it’s past midnight and we’ve gone through four bottles she’s asleep on the couch.


I woke up to four missed calls from Zed. Before I could throw off the covers the phone rang again. “He’s not picking up, Felipé.” “It’s still early,” I said. “It’s Mother’s Day,” Zed said.

MOTHER’S DAY BY STEPHEN KAHN 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 86

Y’all ladies cooking crockpot chili with the door locked.

LAW AND LITERACY IN LULANOCCA BY PAMELA SUMNERS 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 98


They’ve took prayers out of school and our girls get themselves pregnant and then this ACLU crowd wants us to teach kids how to avoid the consequences with what they call sex ed. 

Her eyes drift.

THE NEXT YOUNGEST DAUGHTER BY JR BARNER 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 114

She’s read (just) enough Nabokov to know where this is all heading. 

Dark Angel was the song he dedicated to Susie. 

DOWN THE ROAD A PIECE BY BERNIE HAFELI 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 11

She blew him a kiss. It was like he could see it rise above the smoke and neon and glide lazily toward the stage, a rose petal in the evening breeze. Momentarily he stopped strumming, reached up and caught it.




I heard a woman say come here, Topaz.

FLOWERS IN THE HALLWAY BY ELLEN BLOOMENSTEIN 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 79

I was about to knock on Sally Snow’s door, which I knew was slightly crazy, when the door opened and a Siamese cat came slithering out. “Come here, Topaz,” I heard a woman say.

It’s just like a photo, we think.

THE FLATNESS OF HYPER-REALISM BY ALLISON RICHARDS 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 110

We viewers cannot paint perfect figures, so we don’t make art. We don’t have the time, so we don’t make art. We watch a video on TikTok and the end result looks more real than our goddamn reflection in the mirror, and so we don’t make art. 



 See if god is listening. 

INTERNAL VOICES BY TRAVIS COBB 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 81

Inside this Tower of Babel where nothing gets said. Put out what you need to speak. See if god is listening. 

I am so close to making my airfare.

ZHTWEET CHARITY BY BEN UMAYAM 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 111

Why doesn’t she go back to the cathedral with the other beggars? I am so close to making my airfare. She is spoiling it all, spoiling the whole thing.

Head bangin’ 

ass shakin’ balm.

PLAYLIST FOR THE WORST DAYS BY JAWNO OKHIULU 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 108

A mix of rhythm, funk, soul, and soapbox prophecy cut with love, grief, rage, and acceptance.


I feel more at home here than anywhere else on earth.

THE TRAGEDY OF THE ROSEMARKIE SEAL BY EMILY NEVES 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 103

I turn my back to the cave wall and look out. The slope of the hill and a little green bramble with a spray of yellow flowers partially obscures one side of the opening and on the other side I see the green-gray sea reaching to the horizon. I think, I could live here if I had to. 

Grandma makes egg mcmuffins 

and lets us watch R-rated movies.

SINGLE MOMS HAVE COZY APARTMENTS BY SE DIAMOND 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 99

Since Jennifer’s mom is a biker and goes out a lot, Jennifer usually stays at her grandmother’s house where she can have a more stable childhood. I love sleeping over there because her grandma makes egg mcmuffins and lets us watch R-rated movies.

Pick the ending you want.

DEAD CAT BY MELVIN STERNE 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 96

What’s the most likely ending? What’s the worst-case scenario? What’s the best ending? There’s a billion potential endings. Pick one.

I made it through. 

On my own.

MACHINE GIRL BY REBECCA EGAN 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 96

I want a signal that screams I made it through. On my own. I found a way out. 

Whatever happens 

happens for the good.

A SCUT OF EARTH BY ELIZABETH KIRSCHNER 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 93

Bean whispered, you could place your hand in a ripe fruit and withdraw a beautiful afternoon. He said, “Whatever happens happens for the good.”

Listen to the surf. I could lie here, lie here with you forever.

STARTING AGAIN BY LINDSAY SMITH 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 89

But you can’t. She buries her face in the pillow. Oh, I know. Things change. Yet the surf. Harry stretches his body along Aster’s bare back. Yet the surf. The surf will always. Always. Aster? Aster?


Everything, she thought, is an accident of where you are.

STEALING HOME BY KAY BONTEMPO 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 78

Two bell peppers, Muenster cheese. Cauliflower, a pack of Newports, Tampax. Martinelli’s apple juice. Paper towels two-ply. English Breakfast tea. Boil-in-a-bag rice, paper clips, ramen noodles. Maybe some ice cream if there was money left over. America’s Choice vanilla, eaten straight from the carton. It wouldn’t be bad. With an uncomfortable pop, he pulled out of her and lay beside her, breathing hard. It was 11.52pm. She wondered if the Shop’n’Save would even be open. 

You make it magic.

The magic is happening inside your head. You’re the one who makes it magic.