The fiction editors at The Citron Review love to come across a story that feels complete while delivering memorable imagery and evoking strong emotions. This is true for both micro and flash fiction. When we are lucky enough to find such a story, we hold on and enjoy the ride it takes us on.

“The Lesser” is a wonderful example of such a story. A single image intensified by the weight of a mother’s sacrifice. Such a powerful image, that I am still impacted by it.

“Loretta’s Scars” delivers a soul punch, as one editor described it. Sometimes a woman’s greatest strength is what she keeps only for herself.

Often it is the imagery that most surprises us that makes a selection resonate. In “Unlocked,” a simple metaphor unravels and reveals an intimate relationship with a twist. It’s the kind of story we all hope to tell: something familiar told in a new way.

Writing should also speak the truth into the world around us. Give us a snapshot of culture, humanity, both our strengths and our flaws. This is the case with “This House is Not Home.”

The innocence of children gives us the marred picture of society that experience teaches us.

I hope you enjoy the selections we present to you in this issue as we have, and that they generate conversation, both of what we, as humans are doing right in this world, and what we hope to change.

Elizabeth De Arcos
Senior Fiction Editor
The Citron Review