After Dinner Conversation: Philosophy

There seems to be a lot of anger and horribleness in this issue. I’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating: that’s just the luck of the draw; we simply publish stories as we find them. However, like every magazine, re-reading the stories and d

“I love my family,” I say with my voice clawing against the walls of the mud hut. Smoke plumes to the thatched ceiling and dissipates into the straws of blackened dry grass—a telling of past fires that have warmed the hut and cooked family meals. “I

In the dim, wet oven of the Huey’s troop compartment, the corporal sat on a flak jacket behind the sweat-stained backs of First Squad. Simms, the big machine gunner for Fire Team 2, leaned back against him, jamming the corporal’s knees right up to hi

“Our brains are shaped with the capability to care deeply but also to kill. This deep ambivalence is potentially problematic. A society filled with people who are inherently very compassionate and very violent might prove unstable.”1 1Emile Bruneau,

I unwrap my grandmother’s tinkling candle carousel without incident. We’ve used the same bubble wrap for years, and I’m not sure what good the airless plastic does to protect it, but anyway, the metal is tarnishing. Next, I arrange the poinsettias my

A plate of meat loaf and mashed potatoes balanced on her knees, Lorene watched a National Geographic documentary about a fifty-something woman living utterly alone on the tundra north of the Arctic circle, her home a compound of metal storage contain

When her son walked into their townhouse, Zach’s darkb-rown curls shielded his eyes. It wasn’t the first time Stephanie thought the deflection looked intentional, but she hadn’t yet found evidence that her son’s aloofness hid anything significant. Sh

Exhaustion flooded my body, leaving a dull ache pulsating just behind my eyes. With my right thumb and index finger, I squeezed the bridge of my nose, exhaling deeply, trying to soothe the pain. This tactic worked temporarily, at least until the bus

Kay Mabasa (she/her) is a Zimbabwean who lives in the city of Bulawayo, which is known as the city of ‘Kings and Queens.’ She holds a B.A. in Publishing Studies, and when she’s not writing short stories on feminism, mental health, the African culture

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After Dinner Conversation gratefully acknowledges the support of the following individuals and organizations. Anonymous, Marie Anderson, Ria Bruns, Brett Clark, Jarvis Coffin, Rebecca Dueben, Tina Forsee, Deb Gain-Braley, David Gibson, Ron Koch, Sand