The crowd presses inward instead, palms flat against my stomach, listening — not to me, but to what’s inside. Their faces are earnest, almost tender. I feel myself turning into a surface, a site, a thing that means something to everyone but me.

Pregnancy is a beautiful, natural thing, right? Maybe not in every type of place. "The Shrine Inside My Belly" by Ari Cordovero explores the feeling of being visibly pregnant in a space that wasn't meant for it & how quickly the body turns symbolic, holy, & strange. Live 4/26!

We’ve talked to snakes - we’ve listened to them too. These conversations had nothing to do with fruit.

It's Monday again, but this Monday has bite. More accurately bites plural. The first one is from "On The Seventh Day We Shall Not Rest" by Elissa Lash. This CNF is an exploration of the sex work experience - of being part of a mythology & a collective. Look for it on Sunday! 4/26

"A Sensible Heart: An Interview with Sheldon Lee Compton" by Justin Lee Whenever I think of Appalachian fiction, I think of Sheldon Lee Compton. Not just because I consider him a friend or a mentor. Nor is it because I have read his stuff fairly religiously for years now....

Here is the Arc Hive link for that interview. Thank you for asking about this 💙

roifaineantarchive.wixsite.com/rf-arc-hive/...

Even the happiest of things/days/moment/loves blows away.

Closing out this epic issue with memories kept and lost with a story that, in all sincerity, knocked the sass out of me. Gorgeous work by Leslie Cairns. Read “Oneirataxia” it’s something special. Read it in 95!

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/oneirat...

It was all wrong and it was all strange.

Truer words am I right?”Stories” by Sheldon Lee Compton is ready for your bloodshot eyes in the 95th edition. Get into the dirt of big ideas with this cool piece right here. Go on. Do it.

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/stories...

The floor below me is scattered with moth wings, pale and brittle.

It’s Thursday, and we are still reflecting on the deep self after reading this CNF piece, “Her,” by Stephaniya Elizabeth George. Read this haunting and lyrical work in our 95th edition.

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/her-by-...

One more thin purple stream bursting on the red map of his nose — penciled by a lifetime of alcohol and anger.

I keep trying to think of cute April Fool’s jokes to play but this whole year has been a joke thus far, I think I’ll spare you. We can have a poetry party instead. “Middle School” by @gdgrossman.bsky.social is in the 95th! Read more by this same author. Here.
www.roifaineantpress.com/post/peace-o...

It would be hours before they secured the bag of cash from Scott’s parents and even longer before Scott, pretending to have to go to work despite the kidnapping, picked up the money at the mall.

Reality. Fantasy. Fact. Fiction. How to tell the difference these days. Read the satirical flash piece, "It's Just Pretend, Babe" by Grey Traynor in the 95th edition and play along, go with the flow. Pretend.

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/it-s-ju...

On sunny afternoons, when shadows moved on the floor, you turned into her, wearing a beautiful saree, and you used your pretend weapon to strike the Rakshasa, just as your mother told you.

Welcome to this glorious Wednesday in the modern hellscape that is our world. Maybe a modern take on ancient Indian mythology will help. “How to Kill a Rakshasa” by @sudhasubraman.bsky.social is in 95’n and Thrivin’. Read it now!

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/how-to-...

‘I do know what you usually wear to the office, Tracey, but you’re working from home today, aren't you? Just wanted to check you’re sticking to the manual.’

Remember dress codes & office etiquette? Just another way for our evil overlords to control us. I’m wearing jammie pants with the Guinness toucan to work now. F the man, am I right? “Lydia Charles” by @beetleholloway.bsky.social is in the 95th! Read it here! www.roifaineantpress.com/post/lydia-c...

As she steps inside, the floorboards do not groan. Nothing moves. The house is so well behaved.

If the ghosts of the past aren’t haunting you now, they will be, and get ready cause they’re really pissed. “An Inventory of Ghosts” by Whitney McShan is in 95’n and Thrivin’ and you can read it
here!

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/an-inve...

I came to, on a gurney behind a curtain like a bedsheet. The world sounded different. Everything looked the same, but there was an ineffaceable ring tone sound.

Every day I watch the news and just when you think we couldn’t get any lower, BAM! So why not read “New World Basement” by Alex Grass, a horror piece in our ’95’n and Thrivin’ issue, and see just how deep it all goes.

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/a-new-w...

Your wars are embarrassing.

Take a step back, look at it all from the outside, in. Our wars ARE fucking embarrassing. Read this incredibly witty and DEAD on piece by Aylyen. “The Black Box” arrived on Sunday in the 95th edition. Right here!
www.roifaineantpress.com/post/the-bla...

Her eyes scanning for needs until all is settled just long enough for her to pirouette

Back to work kids! As you read “Dancing for Time” by @louellalester.bsky.social in our 95th edition, think of a long slow drag off your smoke of choice at the end of today, and believe.

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/dancing...

And, to my team - @kelkel.bsky.social @skybarett.bsky.social @melissacuisine.bsky.social @maybemargot.bsky.social - thanks for trying to find the light in incredibly dark times. Love y'all!

…Grey Traynor
@gdgrossman.bsky.social Stephaniya Elizabeth George, Sheldon Lee Compton, Leslie Cairns - we couldn't have done it without you, and we ❤️ you!

As always, RF would like to thank our tremendously talented roster of contributors to this issue - @louellalester.bsky.social Aylyen, Alex Grass, Whitney McShan
@beetleholloway.bsky.social @sudhasubraman.bsky.social…

SUP.

We're just out here 95in' & thrivin'. JK, the world is in shambles.

But our 95th issue is live, so you should tell the person you know who looks most like Wilford Brimley.

www.roifaineantpress.com/blog

#writingcommunity

The house hummed a low tune, a mournful lullaby, almost as if it remembered everything. And if it remembers, it must be grieving too.

Do you like reading sad things? Well, you're in luck! We have a piece from an author who likes writing sad things! Take a peek at this bit of "Her" by Stephaniya Elizabeth George. You can experience the entire melancholy mood this Sunday!

one dime, three nickels, many pennies; lip saver, cherry flavor with hearts;

The lost and found, like some poetry, can be packed with things that once mattered to us. I wonder if that’s where my Fonzi pencil sharpener went? Read “Lost and Found Drawer, End of Season, Memorial Park” by Gary D. Grossman @gdgrossman.bsky.social on 3/29, one in a series of poems about life.

Melinda screamed, hot, forceful breath scraping her teeth. She was doing what she was supposed to, that’s how aggrieved mothers behaved.

It’s hard to decipher fact from fiction in a world where everything is a plot line and a farce. Read “It’s Just Pretend, Babe” by Grey Traynor in the 95th edition, and play along. It’s practice for real life.

Amma narrates the legend of Honamma for the millionth time as you make your way to the temple.

Now that I’ve taken a breath and settled down from my case of the Wednesdays, let’s bring the vibe up a bit! “How to Kill a Rakshasa” by @sudha.bsky.social is a work of fiction based on Indian Mythology, brilliantly reimagined. Read it in our 95th edition of the press, Sunday 3/29.

My smartwatch says ‘unknown number’, but I know who it is.

It seems like all we do these days is ask; what the hell is happening? Read “Lydia Charles” by Beetle Holloway @beetleholloway.bsky.social It’s scary when fiction reflects reality so accurately that you could be reading someone’s diary from last week. Sunday 3/29, in the 95th edition of the press.

The box arrived on a Tuesday.

Tuesday doesn’t have to be boring. In fact, it can be quite illuminating. And from the outside looking in, it is almost ridiculous. The sci-fi comedy “The Black Box” by Aylyen arrives on 3/29! Our 95th edition!

Her eyes scanning for needs until all is settled just long enough for her to pirouette

We have so little time for pleasure, and we do so many dances of obligation to grab those moments of calm. Take the time to read this micro piece. “2 Microfictions Involving Smoking” by Louella Lester @louellalester.bsky.social , our 95th edition on Sunday 3/29, and exhale. Slowly.

Everything changed in a microscopic moment.

As cruel Monday is thrashing us, and humanity is at an all-time low, let’s dive deeper with this horror piece “A New World Basement” by Alex Grass. It can’t get worse right? RIGHT??? Sunday 3/29!

Rain does not fall, does not soak the earth until suffocating worms rise, blind and glistening, to be met by opportunistic birds.

Oh hey there, Writers and Readers! Spring has sprung and we are still seeing ghosts of winter. Are you ready for flash fiction from Whitney McShan? “An Inventory of Ghosts” is in the 95th edition of the press out 3/29! What haunts us makes us stronger. Sunday.

“What are you doing? Don’t touch my things!” Aurelia was incensed. Other than her student’s wet computer tablet, she had never handled anyone else’s belongings in the office. Besides, her bag contained vials of an extremely acidic substance from the lab where she worked that could result in acute illness or even –

Sharing space with someone you love can be difficult. Being forced to share space with someone you don't even like can be impossible. Even the kindest, most generous person might be pushed over the edge. Check out "Office Hours" by Erica W. Weems.

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/office-...

bone broth vapor overlays an outdoors crisp with oxygen grease blankets settle bogged with eye ache banks burst by the salty raw carry clutter towards downpour-wounded valves

It's Friday Eve! Perfect time for a Poetry Party! And this party has not one, not two, but SIX poems by Nathaniel Calhoun for your reading pleasure! Check out this taste of "illness and receiving care" and then go to our 94th edition and enjoy the rest!

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/just-si...

as they wave me on at the front desk to the jungle room you see, they know me here but this ain’t graceland

I have been known to pass out when faced with needles for tattoos & piercings, but never from a blood draw. And never in a place as cool as the jungle room! Please grab your cookies & juice & enjoy "bloodworks" @osageorange.bsky.social. Live now in issue 94!
www.roifaineantpress.com/post/bloodwo...