...Wendy Neale Merry © 2016 Wendy Neale Merry 2016 Wendy Neale Merry Mechanical Dad Mechanical Dad rolled out of the shed and loving him wasn’t that tough a transition. I made room on the couch for his generators, got used to the circling of factory pigeons. Even learned to tell time...

.... He had convinced Hao, the owner of the mini-mart across the street, to stock the stuff for him. “What is that smell?” I asked. “It’s my cologne,” he said. “The ladies love it.” “Go stand by the car. You’re giving me a headache.” I put the sodas next to the spot I left for Dad’s...

... Not Disturb! it says, Making Unicorn Stew. It’s boiling hot outside, and we don’t want to deal with their interruptions and stu- pid questions, like: “Did you know that my dad killed a bigger uni- corn than you did?” or “Did you use a regular gun or a plasma laser to kill the unicorn?” or “You...

...Tyler McMahon © 2009 the minnesota review 2009 Tyler McMahon The King of All One-Liners It was a Tuesday when I came home from school and found Grandma lying on the living room floor with a black eye. Dad was working tens, and wouldn’t be back for hours. A half-empty bottle of Gallo...

..., at the Making Memories themed show-and-tell, the girl brings a roll of Life savers from Woolies. We went to the shops this weekend, she says to her class as they sit at her feet. My dad got me this. The blondies snicker and one-up the girl with smooth rocks, sea shells, and a jar of sand they picked up...

...Fikret Pajalic © 2015 Fikret Pajalic 2015 Fikret Pajalic Mahala Today is the first Sunday of the month, and for my dad and me it’s movie day. Ever since the war finished, we watch an old videotape once a month after breakfast. We found it in the rubble of the top story of our house...

...Ace Clamber aceclamber@gmail.com Copyright © 2022 Ace Clamber 2022 Ace Clamber The Pigeon King I tricked my dad into being friends with me. We talk all the time, he just doesn t know he s talking to his own kid. Tricked is a dangerous word to use as a trans guy something we re often...

... forced a stack of wood on every visitor and passerby, even the paper guy, even in summer, even Father Barney who came Thursdays on foot to take Grandpa s confession and had to lug the logs back through town. Dad moved back in the middle of October with a job lined up and a promise not to drink he broke...

...Peter Upham © 2006 the minnesota review 2006 the minnesota review Peter Upham To the Patricide Entreating the Parole Board Nine, drunk, beside your dad, you swung A gill-torn bream on a pink line, while he Pulled the dinghy onto the shell beach— A white and gray undercast...

.... I was just a struggling drummer at the time. I played around town when there was work, but there were these long dry patches. And it didn t really pay anyway. I temped some days, performed odd work when I could find it sent what I could home to my dad. He needed it more than I did. I came in twice...

... imagine, when he s back at home, he s a pretty good dad and a pretty good husband, based on how he kisses his daughter s head at the elementary school and talks to his wife on the phone. I m not sure why I enjoy studying my teachers, but I do. It might be because they re adults, and adults seem to think...

...Corey Ginsberg © 2017 Corey Ginsberg 2017 Corey Ginsberg When Tuna Helper Needs Help Call Mom and Dad. Tell them you’ve blown through your inheritance and are turning side-dish tricks to make rent. Mom and Dad are sturdy Stouffer’s entrees. They came intact...

... of a Cliffnotes, so I felt pretty confident. A month later, my dad watched me Gavaler 45 sideswipe a Mazda in the fake intersection in the rear parking lot. The stoplight looked like the one in the miniature golf course where I played with my...

... hair always lying near-flat in black and silver wisps. That was probably around the time he understood this new life of ours was real, long term. He called his white T-shirt and plaid boxers the “uniform of the unemployed.” I suggested it might be nicer to say “full-time dad.” “Just wait...

.... that winter when you came to introduce your fiancé only to realize you interrupted one of mom and dad’s fights. thank you. she had been threatening to jump. we never found out if second stories guarantee safe landings. sitting in the van, watching uncle mutter to himself outside...

... like oatmeal. “Dad,” I say. “Hey, are you thirsty?” He picks at the new Fentanyl patch that’s driving concentrated morphine into his skin. “And the talent scout hasn’t seen anything new all day.” He pauses, looks down at his arm. “And he’s just about to close up shop when...

... finished up chemo nine months ago (for the Ewing’s sarcoma in my pelvis bone), Dr. Jerome asked me if I’d like to meet Ryles  11 him without my parents at my quarterly follow-up checkups, and I said yes. My mom and dad resisted at first but ultimately...

... uncles in the world, Tío Chu reminds me most of my dad. I hope they don’t bring him up, mention his name or the way he died, because I really don’t want to drive home shit-faced shivering one more time again. I’m rolling up on the beach now (it’s not really a beach, just a dying offshoot...

... him to sign some forms. He squints at me. You watch a lot of cop TV? I quickly scan his badge. No, Officer Patterson. My dad was a highway patrolman. The lie pops out, fully formed. In Nebraska. He saw a lot of car fatalities, not so many murders because it was a small town, but plenty of people...