Literary short stories by established and emerging writers. Excerpts: Carmiel Banasky Save In the Mississippi Delta the earth is water-line flat. The earth is no egg. Horizon so far off you have to imagine it's there to keep your heart steady. Hubert Ahn Korean Wedding For Koreans, technically, when someone a year older than you tells you to jump off a bridge, you're supposed to jump off the bridge. Little jewels of knowledge like that go a long way toward explaining why the country's spent half of its history occupied by foreigners. Cynthia Gregory Melting at Both Ends She is still that young girl who stalled the red Volkswagen Beetle at the crossroads, learning to drive a stick shift. She is still that young woman who voted for Jimmy Carter. Johnny Townsend Pronouncing the Apostrophe My prayers at night consisted of pointing out to God that I was aware of at least ten specific, good things that had happened that day. Tonight it was easy and soon I was asleep. Marc Basch Morth Here are things Guy notices. She does things with her hair that he finds relaxing. Both hands wrapped around a ponytail that she never finishes. He can see her black bra strap through the fabric of her shirt, where it indents the flesh of her back. He notices the movement of her shoulder blades when she walks. Lindsey Crittenden Which Leaves Me "It's fair," my nephew says. "It's just not very kind." Diana Spechler Proximity I always imagine the friends she must have, four or five other ladies with teased hair, giggling together at the food court in the mall, bright lipstick prints on plastic straws, fingers touching casually, cozily, over a cardboard boat of French fries. Scott Schrader Marijuana, Lipton Tea, and Jazz I had two wives before Sherry, and she had a husband before me, about whom I know little: his name was Gus, he played the drums, he died of a stroke. Mary Morrissy The Scr