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Issue 39

July 2023


A Song for the Centipedes

by Neal Auch

They came at night — a great pilgrimage of arthropods. They poured in from faucets, electrical outlets, light fixtures. They squirmed through hairline fractures in the walls, making their way from the dark hidden places of the cottage and coming together… […]

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The Sticky-Sweet Path

by J. L. Jones

Suffocation — T’quan wading seas of tiny fairies, flicking them out his bush, raking them into jars with his afro pick. Ingesting them like he’s ingested so much of Haven, swallowed rules and responsibilities. Choked on bland, bitter taste. […]

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It Comes Through Us

by Koji A. Dae

We have a space carved out of the world just for us. It’s an apartment in the city, a cabin in the woods, a basement in the suburbs. It’s big or small, tidy or dilapidated, but it is ours; and the important part is it rubs rough on the edges of your world. […]

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Out(r)age

by Amelia Gorman

There was once a girl who got up for a glass of water sometime around 5:00. She kept time by the dark blue morning seeping in through the bathroom’s frosted glass. The girl was a woman, a woman named Doe, and she lived alone except for the Whisper. […]

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Thanks to our patrons for supporting this issue: Kelly, Bear Weiter, Jessica Guptill, Maria Haskins, Elise Tobler, Julie Ireland, Lowry Poletti, Kevin Casin, Michelle Muenzler, Molly Tanzer, Thomas Ha, Lorna D Keach, John Wm. Thompson, Denman Netherland, Sean Padraic Birnie

Issue 39

July 2023

3LBE 39

Front & Back cover art by Rew X