issue 59

Cover art by Ana Matsubara

To all our readers out there, here’s what we have for you in this issue:

● a museum devoted to consciences

○ a celestial taxi cab

■ the televised death of a pro wrestler

¤ an alarmingly smart hamster

• the appearance of the biblical Eve in a drugstore

* a man tearing up letter drafts to his son

§ a story from a cockroach’s point of view

«» the proper herbs to help along a pregnancy

◯ the furry baby a woman finds in a parking lot

± an afternoon without parents

□ abandonment as an act of mercy

‡ the price of Manhattan

● an omnipotent mother

= a father, a daughter, and a violin

+ poets, poets, poets

† an interview with the writer Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar

As always, the writers and their writing are impossible to categorize as a whole, which is just the way we like it. They’re a highly diverse, extremely talented bunch.

As always, we thank our authors, our staff, and all those who submitted. We’d have no magazine without you. And no point to it without you, our readers. If you like what you see, please spread the word.

David Galef
Editor in Chief
Vestal Review

Stories

Feral Prophecy by Doug Ramspeck

Return Address by Nathan Bachman

Free, No Takers by Colette Parris

Lore by Rosanne Scott

Higher Education by Robert Kettering

The Night Owen Hart Died by Salvatore Pane

Mother, Believing by Gargi Mehra

Not All Hamsters Are Smart by Samuel Edwards

The Universal Cockroach by Zephaniah Sole

Eve to Me by Francine Witte

Mind the Babies by Suzanne C. Martinez

Romance by Heidi Bell

Clouds, Traffic Lights by Debbie Robson

Violin Lessons by Anita Lo

Chrysalis by Susan Holcomb

interview