Things were getting worse. We pretended we didn’t notice. One day he brought home a goldfish. We took turns sprinkling colorful pellets into the water. A few weeks later, I found the fish floating on top. He started staying out late. I started going to bed early. One night I awoke in tears. I reached… Read More “Loss” by Lori Cramer
Lori Cramer’s short prose has appeared in Ellipsis Zine, Fictive Dream, Flash Fiction Magazine, Unbroken Journal, Whale Road Review, and elsewhere. Her work has been nominated for Best Microfiction. Links to her writing can be found at https://loricramerfiction.wordpress.com. Twitter: @LCramer29. Featured Photo by janilson furtado on Unsplash
Morula and I seek what little shade there is under a bare Motsheketsane tree (Mot-sheh-key-saw-knee) — its branches interwoven like a dancer’s arms caught in a multiple exposure, reaching into a chalk-blue sky. Sweat trickles down my neck as I melt and droop. I take sips from my water bottle. Morula searches for leftover seeds. … Read More “Mastodons, Mammoths, and Morula” by Cheryl Merrill
Sentience is collected, impossible to bury, so it sprouts in the dirt, and when it opens, it tells stories: life is a ripe fruit you can take a bite of, and taste together, our written words guided by delight. by introspection. by loss, by love, become components of the earth.
In returning to Sentience for Issue Two, the editors wanted to create a bookend to the “Isolation” of Issue One. In part, this is because Sentience began as a pandemic project, conceived as a way to keep story and language moving in a time of palpable disconnection, an extension of workshopping from a distance and… Read More Seeking ‘Connections’
“I can’t control the wind but I can adjust the sail” –Ricky Skaggs Poor visibility on the slopes. We may want to descend while we can, if the weather holds and we are still ourselves, or nearly the several someones we started out as, who haven’t changed a bit. Well, a little bit. A bit… Read More “The Ends” by Caley O’Dwyer
I was doing several things on a regular basis. Finally, I woke up fascinated to a gurney, diagnosed with “fears, doubt, dread, lies,” and a bump on the head. I felt delighted, light as hair. Although I would no longer be the host of a network talk show, I knew the meaning of life, at… Read More “The Desire Line” by Caley O’Dwyer
I began to wonder if the sparking coupons could be redeemed. Much as Will and Holly lost their father through the door of time, had the source codes gone bad? the solid-state devices through which we’d been transmitted collapsed in a surge of current too gracious to bear? I could smell someone’s hair burning as… Read More “Land of the Lost” by Caley O’Dwyer
The first thing my sister said when I opened the door was: “God, your flat is a mess.” It almost certainly was, compared to hers. Pina lived in a loft with big windows. She stepped over my scattered clothes, flung the curtains open, and sat on the edge of the sofa. I asked if she… Read More “Scented Product” by Daniele Zurbruegg
Take it hour by hour Lay your head on my lap Rest Vignettes of countryside race by Under the constant hum of train tracks Reassuring us to move forwards Towards each other Taking it hour by hour I focus on the rhythm of your breath Against the percussion of my heart Healing slowly every second… Read More “You send me (my fingers exploring the waves of your hair, dampened by the heat)” by Emerald Liu
Sentience Literary Journal 