HADAS DE LA PILDORA BY BJ TAYLOR 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 125

Don’t tell me that I should keep it.

TERRIBLE FOR THE BIRDS BY WILLIAM TAMPLIN 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 125

SÓCRATES NAPOLEÓN, YEA WHAT? BY DIEGO ALEJANDRO ARIAS 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 125

Kids in middle school avoided me. My closest friend was HBO. My only social life was logging on the internet and pretending to be someone else. 

THAT HOT LONG WEEKEND BY LINDSAY SMITH 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 124

You two at the motel. Like newlyweds, looking in each other’s eyes, and holding hands, and laughing. I was jealous.

JUNIOR QUENTIN BY MIKE HEPPNER 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 124

I met her at work. She was a customer. Her name was Joanne. I liked her looks. I knew she was a lot older than me but I didn’t care. 

GRACIE ABRAMS BY WILSON ABBY COMEY 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 124

None of my relationships last more than a year. This one is three months.

DISCO ELYSIUM: FIRST AS FARCE, THEN AS SALVATION BY URIEL HERSZAGE 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 124

They are transformed into the very thing that will save the world.

UNDER THE PINE BY DESMA SHEERER 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 124

Do you want to? you ask, pointing to the pine high on the embankment. You who never reaches for my hand, who gives me a little push away when I hug a few seconds too long.

TAKING SPACE BY NATALIE MATHENY 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 123

He pours shots of soju, and says, Here. Cheers to good company. I clink my glass with his and smile, knocking the shot back with little difficulty because it doesn’t taste like anything.

ALL APOLOGIES BY VICTOR VALDIVIA 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 123

This was turning too much into a grown-up job, one that was more about paperwork and office politics than living for the music.

CHARIKAR BY JOSHUA FOUST 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 27

Robert, obsessed with the film Black Hawk Down, lectured Jason constantly about preparedness whenever they left the base—those guys thought it was a quick afternoon jaunt, and look at what happened to them!

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.

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

TASSELS BY SARAH JANE JUSTICE 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 118

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.