False Fronts In which a journalist travels to a Mexican border town to complete her dental surgery after she was beaten on the streets of San Francisco. TriQuarterly
The Cultural Ambassador of North Beach In which a young academic recalls his friendship with a Bosniak refugee in the years leading up to the turmoil of September, 2001. The Masters Review
The Hungry Eye, Always Hunting In which a writer profiles a 16-year-old filmmaking prodigy and her alcoholic father as they scupper a sailboat in Skagg's Island, California. Fogged Clarity
We Are Vehicles in the End In which the writer profiles the art world's enfant terrible, whose most famous painting may cause viewers to experience tonic-clonic seizures. Southern Humanities Review
Language Student In which a New Year's Day car wreck lands a couple in the emergency room. REAL: Regarding Arts and Letters
End Times: A Before and After In which a man recounts his romances amidst end times prophecies and threats of Armageddon. Fiddleblack
The Big One In which a lonely San Francisco man cracks under the pressure of the fabled California earthquake. Fiddleblack
Carlos, Davy, Micah: Teenagers From Mars In which a clan of cross-dressing teenage aliens barrel through Oakland, California. Sundog Lit