Mystery

editor's note

Mystery by Roxanna Bennett
Scientists in Japan recently answered the long standing question: where is all the dark matter in the universe? Using large-scale computer simulations and gravitational observations they were able to calculate how dark matter is distributed throughout space.  

poetry

Singing the Dogs to Sleep by Steve Klepetar
every dog in the neighborhood
howled as if in response to the
electric current of my voice, some
elemental force disturbing late spring air.
Mystery of the Little Green Army Men by Marie Abate
They were green, plastic, and two inches tall,
give or take a weapon,
purchased out of gumball machines
A Hungry Wave by Rob Spiegel
What’s left is nearly two fifths of
what we came for.
Half the Sky by Rob Spiegel
The first mistake was the turn
to the inside – the rain coming down
in dark sheets, impossible to

breathe, the wipers not fast enough.

fiction

The Wedding Guest by Rebecca Burns
There was laughter and love in the air; cousins who had not seen each other for several years gripped arms and hands with firm affection, roaring together as they recalled haircuts, holidays, Christmases drunk on vermouth. Older relatives, glowing in the wrap of familial love, giggled and twinkled in a way they had not done for a long time.
Timeshare by Regina Clarke
I mark the change in things when we were seven days into our timeshare. I’d just finished the washing up and Joe was reading in the lounge chair out on the front porch, an old kerosene lamp for light. I could hear crickets, masses of them. The kitchen window looked out over a grove of trees and through them I could see the glint of the small pond nearby. There was a crescent moon.
Two Days from the Sea by Tony Press
Six months ago we celebrated three years on the mountain, three years of 4,000 feet above sea-level, though the nearest saltwater is a two-day drive away.  Still, nice to think about the ocean as you are high above the desert.  We called the house “The Guest House” though we rarely had visitors.
Trilobites by Peter Hajinian
After months of looking, talking with my realtor, and endless calls to my parents about whether it was going to be the right house or not, I finally put an offer in on a foreclosed property that had “good bones” even though it’d been empty for almost a year. A month later, summer arrived, and I moved in. I had never owed anyone that much money, but it was exhilarating to have something all to myself.
Sugar by Kori Hennessy
The dirt I’m sitting on is the red of clay. I feel the heat of the sun beating on my back as I comb my baby doll's hair. She’s wearing a bubble gum pink dress, just like mine. I’m planted next to his feet, my eyes not quite reaching the top of his brown cowboy boots. The smoky smell of the leather is familiar, as is the dust all around me.

nonfiction

Orbit by Lauren Moore
I never considered the amount of sodium in my blood until my gastroenterologist called me at 8 p.m. on a Friday night to tell me that there was dangerously little in my veins.