Every time a new issue of Newfound goes live, I feel like I’m introducing my child to the world: here, isn’t she beautiful? Look at this imagery; isn’t she special? I couldn’t be prouder of this project. This issue’s flash fiction section has six sparkling, surprising, heart-grabbing, mind-tickling stories. I admire these six authors so much that I can’t believe I got lucky enough to publish their fine stories.

There are so many talented writers out there, folks. I could spend hours and hours just wandering through the flash fiction on sites like Smokelong Quarterly, Wigleaf, Word Riot, Every Day Fiction, Tin House, Jellyfish Review, Subtropics, and so many others.

And I’m very proud to be a part of Newfound, an organization that exists to support and promote great writers and artists, with a special eye for place.

Here’s what you’ve got in store today on the newest issue:

Leah Browning’s story, “Friday Night at the Mermaid Inn.” Get a load of that title. If that’s all I wrote about it, that should be enough. But somehow this beautiful story manages to also contain a kind of a surprise ending. A strong, unexpected imagery that made me both hopeful and profoundly sad.

“In Five Years’ Time,” by Jade Freeman is a lyrical relationship elegy that somehow manages to be both immediate and present and also cover the life and death of that relationship. I love how the mosaic writing style adds to the stream-of-consciousness yet cohesive feel of the piece.

What I love about “In the Epoch of the King Salmon,” by Paul Vega (@paultvega) is that it is a history and a prophecy in miniature. And it is so well grounded that I feel plopped down in Alaska, watching a time-lapse that spans centuries and casts a mirrored reflection back at the reader.

Sarah Kathryn Moore’s story, “Verily, Verily,” also hearkens the past to reflect the future, and does so with poetic wit. Lines like this made me fall in love with the story: “you’ll be uncreated soon enough, pages creeping to a verb.” Do yourself a favor and read this one slowly and again and again.

I love “Terrible Emmanuel’s Likeness” by Chris Haven for being both playful and sinister at the same time. This strikingly odd character’s attempt to place himself into the world as a symbol doesn’t quite work out the way he wanted it to. It made me think about the way we try to represent ourselves in the work we do.

“Fairytale” by Jeff Friedman is a microscopic modern fairy tale which reads like a familiar, entertaining story of true love, until the very end. I love the resonance of this story. That on first blush, it’s a simple tale, but on second, third, fourth read, it becomes poetic and highly symbolic.

When you’re done reading these flash fictions (aren’t they wonderful?), check out the whole issue. The other sections are amazing, and the visual art is, WOW.

Please enjoy!