On "The Gentrification of the Void" by Sacha Siskonen (1912 words) *****

The editors of Alice Blue Review have a knack for pulling out short pieces with lots of lyricism and a some cool ideas, and this is one of the better ones I've read there of late. The tale is a recounting of a man's eco-tour of the garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean. I mean, why not? It might be an incredible and horrible addition to our planet, but if as long as it's there, we might as well turn it into something to market, something to visit and bring back souvenirs from. If my description makes this seem kitschy, that's because in a sense it is, and yet, by the story's end, Siskonen manages to pull off something also "beautiful." Read the tale here at Alice Blue Review.

On "Fire Hazard" by Mike Young (1224 words) ***

Two people somewhere in a relationship, somewhere deep, where the relationship has worn to the point of irritation, where it has come to the point of love. How much are these two separate? How much are they the same? And how well do we really know that person we're with? These are the questions this story poses and doesn't answer, because the answers, of course, are impossible to present. But unlike most stories with a crash, an accident, I don't get the feeling this is necessarily tragedy. It's just how things are and how they're always going to be. Read the story here.

On "Houses" by Merida Gorman (705 words) ***

I don't know what it is about this piece, but I find it mesmerizing. I'm not even sure what it's really about. I mean, on the surface, it's some woman visiting some man in a house out in the country, having some affair. It's some woman obsessing over the house of an actress not so far away, an actress the man tells the woman about. It's some woman that maybe isn't so healthy herself. But we only have seven hundred words, and like many flash pieces, what's not here leaves one a bit befuddled--but fascinated. Read the story here.