Kate Milliken

Forthcoming in Fiction

“Parts of A Boat”

“Lynanne is flush, tan and flush. She maneuvers around Catherine, toward the unmade bunk, where she lifts herself up and settles on the strewn sheets, crossing and bouncing one bird leg against the other, saying, ‘we have such a wicked little story to tell.’”

Forthcoming in New Orleans Review

“An Uninvited Guest”

“A teal green Honda pulled up. The front fender was bent, as if it had been purposefully run straight into a hydrant or tree. The hood was held with twine. She sat hunched at the wheel, looking out, considering something. She was slight. Even from the house he could see that. She had on a royal blue down coat. She was sitting in it, more than wearing it. She turned, squinting, making out the house numbers. He waved, unsure if she had found him there, in the window.”

Cutthroat

"Detour"
Runner-up for the 2010 Rick DiMarinis Fiction Award, chosen by Alan Cheuse

“Helen actually seemed a little glad to be hurt, as if she’d come through an initiation, as though the fall had loosed some tension from her, set it into the air and she was watching it drift out of the barn, away from them. A quiet passed between the four of them, with Lucy holding Helen’s good hand, Miguel taping up the splint, and Gus bent at her feet, watching her eyes, waiting for her gaze to settle on him.”

Other Voices

"The Whole World"

"She'd put a T-shirt—several sizes too big—over her bikini, leaving a wet imprint in the fabric. Bill looked at the bottle then past her; the parents, Marty, and Roxanne were still on the porch, blocked from view by the magnolia tree."

Cream City Review

"Bottleneck"

"I gunned it, feeling the engine roar and the car jolt into first gear, then my elbow hitting the dash, the sear of bone cracking, the skin going cold. My breasts crushed between the wheel and my weight, my neck whipped back and forth. And my heart, the pound and pump of it, swelled."

Pearl

"Wings"

"My father, suddenly home, as suddenly as he had gone, goes to her, his keys and change just emptied from his pockets—the jingle against the wood table like a fragment of a song."

Meridian

"Sleight of Hand"

"Not long ago, the flowers outside the bedroom window—birds of paradise—attracted a sickness: small moldy freckles running up their orange heads and down their dense, gray-green spines. A part of me was glad, happy to watch them brown and wilt with disease; I have often found them too haughty, too strikingly beautiful with their manly pride."

Santa Monica Review

"Audiology"

"It was an election year and the Republican candidate's motorcade was mapped out for our block, much of our neighborhood being sympathizers. We invited friends over and painted a couple of signs and thought up some jeers, but by the time the black cars started to roll by we were half drunk and succumbing to the August heat…"

The Southeast Review

"The Rental"

"The first time Meredith Caul made love to her neighbor, she rolled off of him and gathered her clothes from the floor. Grasping her pants to her breasts, her thighs clenched in a feeble attempt to hide her nakedness, she scurried the fifteen feet from his front door to her front door. Once inside, the top and bottom locks latched, she threw herself on the couch and listened to him move around behind their shared walls. She wondered if he even understood what they had done."

Flyway

"Names For A Girl"

"Deirdre's mother folded closed the trailer doors, snapped the padlock shut, and told Deirdre to sit in the car's backseat: it was safer there. She could hear her mother and father talking behind the car and she sensed their final embrace, the brief magnetic pull then repel of it."

Folio

"How Grass Grows"

"Lila didn’t dance for Paul. It wasn’t the same. Paul had no legs, or hadn’t for over three months now. He didn’t seem to miss them…"

42opus

"Man Down Below"

"You remember the time Eddie came up, knocking just as you were getting out of the shower. He’d heard the water and he must have heard the grunts and chirps of sex before that. It was intentional. You could tell. He wanted Mario to come to the door…"

42opus

"Helium Balloon"

"My boyfriend is a helium balloon, way above me, gently tugging at my hand. His head tosses about in the breeze, neck long and flimsy, craning whichever way the wind blows."

	Forthcoming in Fiction “Parts of A Boat” “Lynanne is flush, tan and flush. She maneuvers around Catherine, toward the unmade bunk, where she lifts herself up and settles on the strewn sheets, crossing and bouncing one bird leg against the other, saying, ‘we have such a wicked little story to tell.’”
	Forthcoming in New Orleans Review “An Uninvited Guest” “A teal green Honda pulled up. The front fender was bent, as if it had been purposefully run straight into a hydrant or tree. The hood was held with twine. She sat hunched at the wheel, looking out, considering something. She was slight. Even from the house he could see that. She had on a royal blue down coat. She was sitting in it, more than wearing it. She turned, squinting, making out the house numbers. He waved, unsure if she had found him there, in the window.”
	Cutthroat "Detour" Runner-up for the 2010 Rick DiMarinis Fiction Award, chosen by Alan Cheuse “Helen actually seemed a little glad to be hurt, as if she’d come through an initiation, as though the fall had loosed some tension from her, set it into the air and she was watching it drift out of the barn, away from them. A quiet passed between the four of them, with Lucy holding Helen’s good hand, Miguel taping up the splint, and Gus bent at her feet, watching her eyes, waiting for her gaze to settle on him.”
	Other Voices "The Whole World" "She'd put a T-shirt—several sizes too big—over her bikini, leaving a wet imprint in the fabric. Bill looked at the bottle then past her; the parents, Marty, and Roxanne were still on the porch, blocked from view by the magnolia tree."
	Cream City Review "Bottleneck" "I gunned it, feeling the engine roar and the car jolt into first gear, then my elbow hitting the dash, the sear of bone cracking, the skin going cold. My breasts crushed between the wheel and my weight, my neck whipped back and forth. And my heart, the pound and pump of it, swelled."
	Pearl "Wings" "My father, suddenly home, as suddenly as he had gone, goes to her, his keys and change just emptied from his pockets—the jingle against the wood table like a fragment of a song."
	Meridian "Sleight of Hand" "Not long ago, the flowers outside the bedroom window—birds of paradise—attracted a sickness: small moldy freckles running up their orange heads and down their dense, gray-green spines. A part of me was glad, happy to watch them brown and wilt with disease; I have often found them too haughty, too strikingly beautiful with their manly pride."
	Santa Monica Review "Audiology" "It was an election year and the Republican candidate's motorcade was mapped out for our block, much of our neighborhood being sympathizers. We invited friends over and painted a couple of signs and thought up some jeers, but by the time the black cars started to roll by we were half drunk and succumbing to the August heat…"
	The Southeast Review "The Rental" "The first time Meredith Caul made love to her neighbor, she rolled off of him and gathered her clothes from the floor. Grasping her pants to her breasts, her thighs clenched in a feeble attempt to hide her nakedness, she scurried the fifteen feet from his front door to her front door. Once inside, the top and bottom locks latched, she threw herself on the couch and listened to him move around behind their shared walls. She wondered if he even understood what they had done."
	Flyway "Names For A Girl" "Deirdre's mother folded closed the trailer doors, snapped the padlock shut, and told Deirdre to sit in the car's backseat: it was safer there. She could hear her mother and father talking behind the car and she sensed their final embrace, the brief magnetic pull then repel of it."
	Folio "How Grass Grows" "Lila didn’t dance for Paul. It wasn’t the same. Paul had no legs, or hadn’t for over three months now. He didn’t seem to miss them…"
	42opus "Man Down Below" "You remember the time Eddie came up, knocking just as you were getting out of the shower. He’d heard the water and he must have heard the grunts and chirps of sex before that. It was intentional. You could tell. He wanted Mario to come to the door…"
	42opus "Helium Balloon" "My boyfriend is a helium balloon, way above me, gently tugging at my hand. His head tosses about in the breeze, neck long and flimsy, craning whichever way the wind blows."