Madeleine Belden

Madeleine Belden is an emerging writer in Chicago whose work has recently been published in Arkansan Review, Hive Avenue Literary Review, and The Write Launch. She is also the recipient of the Kelly J. Abbot open genre fiction contest and won first prize in Glass Mountain’s prose contest judged by Robert Boswell.

The Wake

I refused to greet silver-haired mourners or point teary-eyed people toward the casket or absorb touching stories about Mona. Instead, I stayed glued to a metal folding chair at the front of the room, twirling my hair, staring at my mother’s waxy, shriveled body.

Old Boyfriend

Chapter One
Chase Richard Pitt–my first love–came back into my life at 3:57 p.m. on a Friday afternoon in October. Well, technically he walked into Paris Café, my modest thrift-store-decorated establishment, asking if he could get a bottle of water and a slice of quiche to go. I know the exact time because I close my café every day at four, and I was just heading toward the door.

Chronic Good Weather

The feel of the rope wakes me. Coiled above my breasts, underneath, and pinning my hips against the kitchen chair. Arms pulled behind my back; wrists tied together. The rope smells like motor oil. I have no right to be surprised by my husband. I’ve watched enough Law and Order episodes to know that behavior escalates. I feel as though I’ve been drugged.
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