“JIMMY,” BY PETER ORNER
Peter Orner’s “Jimmy” is the tale of a small-town drunk skirting personal connection yet trying to live honorably—until a long-lost daughter shows up at the local watering hole. Set in Bolinas, California, Orner’s short story captures the characters and rhythms of daily life there with understated eloquence and humor.
“BREAKDOWN IN THE RIGHT LANE,” BY RACHEL HOWZELL HALL
The opening of Rachel Howzell Hall’s “Breakdown in the Right Lane” drops readers into the slow-moving traffic near the Sepulveda airport tunnel as our narrator travels with her husband from LAX. Hall’s story brims with the elements of noir, yet it is brilliantly crafted to keep readers in the dark even as it makes them complicit in a crime that is about to unfold.
“MAGDA’S HEN,” BY DÉSIRÉE ZAMORANO
Désirée Zamorano’s “Magda’s Hen” concerns itself with the plight of a backyard farmer, her bullying husband, and an irascible bird with special powers. The stakes rise throughout this tale of magical realism, building toward a denouement that cements readers’ emotional connection to Magda.
“THE MAILMAN,” BY ANDREW HUBBELL
A rude observation from a loudmouth hospital roommate leads one man on a quest to prove this stranger wrong. In Andrew Hubbell’s “The Mailman,” we can’t help but breathlessly follow our protagonist back to good health and into a life of bad behavior.
