Rumpus Original Fiction: Three Flash Fictions by Nathan Xie
“Sprezzatura,” “An Attempt to Explain Myself,” & “The Last Norwegian Wolf”
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Join NOW!“Sprezzatura,” “An Attempt to Explain Myself,” & “The Last Norwegian Wolf”
...moreThe sound of love: you and him. Once upon a time.
...moreThe lasso was a gaping mouth that opened wide enough, we hoped, to swallow the cloud.
...moreMy favorite was usually the smallest, the most alive.
...moreI care deeply about these characters who decide to act and react to the conflicts and tensions around them even if they fail, especially when they fail.
...moreWith my first blood, a scale appears, hard and iridescent in the soft skin below my arm. In bathroom mirror light, elbow raised, I press and prod, fingertips rusted from menstrual discovery. They trace red, which soaks into the skin and blossoms more scales, reflecting blue and green. I wash my hands. And the scales […]
...moreChristopher Gonzalez discusses his debut story collection, I’M NOT HUNGRY BUT I COULD EAT.
...moreChristopher Gonzalez discusses his debut story collection, I’M NOT HUNGRY BUT I COULD EAT.
...moreTyler Barton discusses his new story collection, ETERNAL NIGHT AT THE NATURE MUSEUM.
...more“Life is incredibly sad, but it’s also funny, joyful, wonderful, and strange.”
...morehe lives in closets, stalks young kids, & takes them in the middle of the night.
...moreBeth Gilstrap discusses her new story collection, DEADHEADING.
...more“The book is about the complicated problem of loving.”
...moreWe get to devour our horror from the top of the head down to the tips of the toes.
...moreIt was strange what the nudity did to us—what the nakedness undid.
...moreTara Isabel Zambrano discusses DEATH, DESIRE, AND OTHER DESTINATIONS.
...moreRebecca McClanahan discusses her new memoir-in-essays, IN THE KEY OF NEW YORK CITY.
...moreTara Campbell discusses her new book, POLITICAL AF: A RAGE COLLECTION.
...moreA permanent job doesn’t need her, and neither do her boyfriends.
...moreLeesa Cross-Smith discusses her new story collection, SO WE CAN GLOW.
...moreCould scars be daughters? The hands don’t understand why I am asking this.
...more“I hope it will mean as much to readers as it does to me.”
...morePeg Alford Pursell discusses her new story collection, A GIRL GOES INTO THE FOREST.
...moreImagine a man looking at the artist looking at the art at the party.
...moreWill you join us? When you are ready, lie down to rest.
...moreThe only way to guarantee a secret is for the only person to know about it be you.
...moreIn the first story of this collection, a girl learns the shocking truth that the world is made of atoms, that “when you get right down to it, it’s all just studs and holes.”
...moreRion Amilcar Scott discusses his story collection Insurrections, father relationships, hip-hop, knowing when to abandon a project, and choosing not to workshop certain stories.
...moreVi Khi Nao on her new novel Fish in Exile, why women shouldn’t apologize (even when they’re wrong), moving between genres, and why humor is vital in a novel full of darkness and grief.
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