Issue #1, Spring 2003

Contents

Siren's Call by Karen Z. Perry

Banal Probe by Richard Butner

The Secret Life Of Mr. Clean by Lori Selke

White Girl by Myriam Gurba

Two Villanelles by Steven Schwartz (poems)

Drugs and Sleep by Bill Brent

The Case of the Delirious Nervenkranken Siblings by Lisa Archer

Awakening by Jean Roberta

i die first by Daphne Gottlieb (poem)

God by Greg Wharton

That Balding Angel by Jan Steckel

jUST nASTY aT tHE sUBSPECIES bALL by Ryan Kamstra

Cat Got Your Tongue? by Scott T. Wilson

from "Siren's Call" by Karen Z. Perry

"The bravest of firefighters have an instinctive sixth sense, an intuition that guides them blindly through unknown corridors blocked with smoke thicker than pudding. An inner voice, they call it, but Morgan knows she leads Company Eighteen to safety. She directs them to the fire quickly, saving precious minutes, then guides them out. Her voice is a lighthouse on a starless night because there is misperception and darkness in a blaze. She summons men to fire and her enticing song can coax heathens to prayer, and the straight-laced to sin.

Some say it is hearing the wind speak.

Morgan recalls the day Joseph arrived at Company Eighteen six months ago. She relives the memory as if it were now. Although there was another Lieutenant before him, Morgan canıt recall his face because she sees only Joseph, admires his strong arms as he speaks to Lieutenant Tom Reilly.

"They transferred me from Company Twelve after..." Joseph glances at his hands, then stares at Morgan. "My wife had...cancer."

Suddenly Morgan sees an image from Josephıs mind. Sometimes Morgan can see inside people. Joseph is remembering how he tried to hold onto his wife forever just before she died. At the time, he thought he had her in a strong grip, but his wife slipped through the cracks, like water. For a moment his hands tremble and he wonders now if they will ever hold a woman the same way.

"It can be a lonely life, being a fireman," says Joseph, still thinking of his wife.

from The Fix #7:

"'Siren's Call' by Karen Z. Perry gets the issue off to a flying start with the tale of a fireman and his engine, said engine having a personality all its own and falling in love with the guy in uniform, a relationship that's bound to end in flames. Doesn't sound promising does it, but Perry's tasteful writing and ability to evoke mood makes this incredible scenario seem real and bring a tale of unrequited love alive."

"Selke's own 'The Secret Life of Mr. Clean'...wittily imagin[es] a day in the life of one of those anthropomorphised household cleaners, such as Mr Muscle. Sad and very funny, the advertising jargon [is] deftly skewered on a spike of satire."

"My favorite piece, 'White Girl' by Myriam Gurba, [is[ a beautifully paced account of a young woman's sexual awakening, all the trials and tribulations of young love laid out on the page. The prose is vivid and the narrative rich in those telling details that make people and situations come alive, and underlying it all is a sense of loss that makes you want to cry."

"'Problem Child' has made an auspicious debut, and if they can maintain this standard the magazine has a bright future."

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