Issue 2

This second issue of Heartlines Spec has poignancy running through it. It's in the powerful stories that fill the space in your heart. The poems that grip your hand and whisper to you. The essays that lean forward, elbows on the table, to tell you something vital. It's a feeling of something that's not forlorn, not sad, not fluffy, but poignant—pain in the chest, funny flipflop heartbeat, and wistful smile with a shimmer of comfort.

Each week, we will release two free-to-read pieces on our website. Paid subscribers have complete access. All levels of subscribers can read select pieces ahead of public release.

Editorial by Heather Clitheroe

Short Fiction

The Long Way Home from Gaia BH1 by Manuela Amiouny

Sibble-Sweet by Carol B. Duncan

The Saint of Lost and Stolen Things by E.M. Linden

Autumn Without Rain by Lucy Zhang

Pomegranate Anatomy by Diana Dima (reprinted in The Best Death Stories of 2023)

Night Blooms by Narrelle M. Harris

The Bodytakers by Eva Papasoulioti

Lost Time in the Turnaround by Sarah Ramdawar

Poetry

The Magician’s Foundling by Angel Leal (2024 Rhysling Award Finalist, Short Form Poem)

Harrowing Nightwatch by Gretchen Tessmer

Five Things said by the Deity's Lover by Goran Lowie

As a, I want to, so I can by Kelley Tai

Parable With Time Travel by Ashish Kumar Singh

Non-Fiction

It Takes (More Than?) Two: Relationships and their impact on the broader environment by Lynne Sargent

Meet me at the bar by Mary Sanche

PDF and EPUB

PDF and EPUB (for paid subscribers only)