Oct 20, 2022
2 min

The Postcard; The Tiny Window

With school in full swing, creative writing has taken a back seat outside class. However, readings about illness narratives have...

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Bailey Merlin

Jul 7, 2022
3 min

June Writing Challenge, pt. 2

Creative pursuits are a practice, and you have to show up for them or they won’t show up for you. Last month, I made sure to answer a...

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Bailey Merlin

May 15, 2022
1 min

Publication Alert

My flash fiction piece “Wellspring Wandering” was published by Bait/Switch, which is a unique journal because it is intensely...

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Bailey Merlin

Apr 21, 2022
7 min

Madonna & Child, Delayed

Her knee jiggles. Incessant anxious energy has made its home in her veins, moving through her as steadily as blood. Today, though, the...

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Bailey Merlin

Mar 3, 2022
3 min

The Least

For Paul Farmer: You lived a life full of good works. Though you now rest, your work lives. Thank you. The young man who lives above the...

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Bailey Merlin

Feb 4, 2022
5 min

How I Used to Play the Cello

This is an old piece I always thought of doing something with. Looking back at it now, I’m happy to let it be. It’s been such a long time...

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Bailey Merlin

Dec 2, 2021
1 min

Frank

In the attic there lives a ghoul. His name is Frank. He is not loud. He does not take up much space. He does not eat food. If you didn’t...

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Bailey Merlin

Oct 22, 2021
2 min

Slivers

In Salem, there are a lot of doors. There are a lot of doors to be seen and a lot of doors to be seen by the right pairs of eyes. Not...

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Bailey Merlin

Aug 20, 2021
2 min

Walnut Street Stories, pt. 2

Madelyn sets the crossword to the side. None of the answers are right, but she still managed to make everything fit. Making yourself...

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Bailey Merlin

Aug 6, 2021
2 min

Walnut Street Stories, pt. 1

Madelyn finishes The Plain Dealer’s daily crossword puzzle in thirty minutes flat. She gets up from the kitchen table for a second cup of...

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Bailey Merlin

Dec 20, 2020
4 min

A How-To on How-Not-To Eat a Crawfish

Until I was about eight, I thought my grandpa was a Spaniard. This may have had something to do with him looking a lot like Antonio...

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Bailey Merlin

Oct 31, 2020
13 min

Tending the Flame

We aren’t ready. When Sebastian holds the door, and the sky blinks into blackness, we aren’t ready. When everyone is left standing in the...

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Bailey Merlin

Aug 31, 2020
2 min

Accountability Abstraction

Writing in the middle of a pandemic is hard. Everything is hard. But I assure you that I am working, or at least trying to work. This is...

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Bailey Merlin

Dec 6, 2019
5 min

Postpartum

Whenever I finish a project, I feel empty. It’s not a scooped out feeling, it’s more of a “I’m not here” feeling. It’s like existing in a...

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Bailey Merlin

Jul 19, 2018
4 min

Untethered

My father always told me to look to the stars to find my way home. That was true a long time ago, when he was younger, before the...

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Bailey Merlin

Jul 18, 2018
6 min

That Satchmo Sorrow

There is smoke. It has grown thicker over the last hour, invading my lungs and stinging my eyes. I take another hit and begin to cough....

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Bailey Merlin

Jul 17, 2018
8 min

Dysphoria

Dez is not a morning person. I remind myself of the fact when I feel the urge to ruffle his hair. His snapping turtle role isn’t worth a...

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Bailey Merlin

Jun 29, 2017
7 min

The Final Letdown

For months and months and months I’ve tried to get my shitty short stories published. They haven’t been (because they’re shitty,...

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Bailey Merlin

Jun 5, 2017
2 min

Thesis Torture #1

After 6 months of hand-wringing, my thesis adviser finally finished my draft. And guess what? It was as bad as I thought it was going to...

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