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  • Issue 22 Fall 2021
    • Issue #22 Art Fall 2021 >
      • Bonnie Severien Fall 2021
      • Camilla Taylor Fall 2021
      • Guilherme Bergamini Fall 2021
      • Emanuela Iorga Fall 2021
    • Issue #22 Poetry Fall 2021 >
      • Maureen Alsop Fall 2021
      • Annah Browning Fall 2021
      • Romana Iorga Fall 2021
      • Natalie Hampton Fall 2021
      • Sherine Gilmour Fall 2021
      • Adam Day Fall 2021
      • Amanda Auchter Fall 2021
      • Adam Tavel Fall 2021
      • Sara Moore Fall 2021
      • Karen Rigby Fall 2021
      • Daniel Zhang Fall 2021
      • Erika Lutzner Fall 2021
      • Kindall Fredricks Fall 2021
      • Cin Salach Fall 2021
      • Andrew Zawacki Fall 2021
      • Micah Ruelle Fall 2021
      • Rachel Stempel Fall 2021
      • Haley Wooning Fall 2021
      • Rikki Santer Fall 2021
      • Evy Shen Fall 2021
      • Suzanne Frischkorn Fall 2021
      • Danielle Rose Fall 2021
      • Eric Burgoyne Fall 2021
      • John Cullen Fall 2021
      • Maureen Seaton Fall 2021
      • Hannah Stephens Fall 2021
    • Issue #22 Nonfiction Fall 2021 >
      • Kevin Grauke Fall 2021
      • Courtney Justus Fall 2021
      • Amy Nicholson Fall 2021
    • Issue #22 Fiction Fall 2021 >
      • Tina Jenkins Bell Fall 2021
      • David Obuchowski Fall 2021
      • Thomas Misuraca Fall 2021
      • Aiden Baker Fall 2021
      • Jenny Magnus Fall 2021
  • Issue 23 Spring 2022
    • Issue #23 Art Spring 2022 >
      • Jonathan Kvassay Spring 2022
      • Karyna McGlynn Spring 2022
      • Andrea Kowch Spring 2022
      • Layla Garcia-Torres Spring 2022
    • Issue #23 Poetry Spring 2022 >
      • Robin Gow Spring 2022
      • T.D. Walker Spring 2022
      • Jen Schalliol Huang Spring 2022
      • Yvonne Zipter Spring 2022
      • Carrie McGath Spring 2022
      • Lupita Eyde-Tucker Spring 2022
      • Susan L. Leary Spring 2022
      • Kate Sweeney Spring 2022
      • Rita Mookerjee Spring 2022
      • Erin Carlyle Spring 2022
      • Cori Bratty-Rudd Spring 2022
      • Jen Karetnick Spring 2022
      • Meghan Sterling Spring 2022
      • Lorelei Bacht Spring 2022
      • Michael Passafiume Spring 2022
      • Jeannine Hall Gailey Spring 2022
      • Phil Goldstein Spring 2022
      • Michael Mingo Spring 2022
      • Angie Macri Spring 2022
      • Martha Silano Spring 2022
      • Vismai Rao Spring 2022
      • Anna Laura Reeve Spring 2022
      • Jenny Irish Spring 2022
      • Marek Kulig Spring 2022
      • Jami Macarty Spring 2022
      • Sarah A. Rae Spring 2022
      • Brittney Corrigan Spring 2022
      • Callista Buchen Spring 2022
      • Issam Zineh Spring 2022
      • MICHAEL CHANG Spring 2022
      • henry 7. reneau, jr. Spring 2022
      • Leah Umansky Spring 2022
      • Cody Beck Spring 2022
      • Danyal Kim Spring 2022
      • Rachel DeWoskin Spring 2022
    • Issue #23 Fiction Spring 2022 >
      • Melissa Boberg Spring 2022
    • Issue #23 Nonfiction Spring 2022 >
      • Srinaath Perangur Spring 2022
      • Audrey T. Carroll Spring 2022
  • Issue #24 Fall 2022
    • Issue #24 Art Fall 2022 >
      • Marsha Solomon Fall 2022
      • Edward Lee Fall 2022
      • Harryette Mullen Fall 2022
      • Jezzelle Kellam Fall 2022
      • Irina Greciuhina Fall 2022
      • Natalie Christensen Fall 2022
      • Mark Yale Harris Fall 2022
      • Amy Nelder Fall 2022
      • Bette Ridgeway Fall 2022
      • Ursula Sokolowska Fall 2022
    • Issue #24 Poetry Fall 2022 >
      • William Stobb Fall 2022
      • e Fall 2022
      • Stefanie Kirby Fall 2022
      • Lisa Ampleman Fall 2022
      • Will Cordeiro Fall 2022
      • Jesica Davis Fall 2022
      • Peter O'Donovan Fall 2022
      • Mackenzie Carignan Fall 2022
      • Jason Fraley Fall 2022
      • Barbara Saunier Fall 2022
      • Chad Weeden Fall 2022
      • Nick Rattner Fall 2022
      • Cynthia Schwartzberg Edlow Fall 2022
      • Summer J. Hart Fall 2022
      • Daniel Suá​rez Fall 2022
      • Sara Kearns Fall 2022
      • Millicent Borges Accardi Fall 2022
      • Liz Robbins Fall 2022
      • john compton Fall 2022
      • Esther Sadoff Fall 2022
      • Whitney Koo Fall 2022
      • W. J. Lofton Fall 2022
      • Rachel Reynolds Fall 2022
      • Kimberly Ann Priest Fall 2022
      • Annie Przypyszny Fall 2022
      • Konstantin Kulakov Fall 2022
      • Nellie Cox Fall 2022
      • Jennifer Martelli Fall 2022
      • SM Stubbs Fall 2022
      • Joshua Bird Fall 2022
    • Issue #24 Fiction Fall 2022 >
      • Otis Fuqua Fall 2022
      • Hannah Harlow Fall 2022
      • Natalia Nebel Fall 2022
      • Kate Maxwell Fall 2022
      • Helena Pantsis Fall 2022
    • Issue #24 Nonfiction Fall 2022 >
      • Courtney Ludwick Fall 2022
      • Anna Oberg Fall 2022
      • Acadia Currah Fall 2022

Justin Eisenstadt

Black Triangle

             
            Well, sir, I was up at the overlook last night when I saw it. I was driving around in my truck with no particular aim or purpose when I got it in my head that it might be nice to go up there for a spell. It was my brother’s old truck, you know. It sort of passed to me when he … well, when he didn’t come back.
            No, I know you didn’t ask me about the truck. But I thought you might want to know that. Didn’t you and him play football together back in the day?
            Oh, I guess that was your older brother, wasn’t it? You and him look so much alike. Not like Wayne and me. Nobody ever would have guessed we was kin. Maybe could have passed for cousins, if you squinted real hard.
            Well, of course I was drinking. I did say I was up at the overlook, didn’t I? That’s always the first thing people ask about when this sort of thing happens. “Was he drinking?” “Does he have a history of mental illness?” “Is he known for telling tall tales?” Anything to deny the supernatural.
            I suppose I’ll have to plead the fifth on that one, Clint. I mean, officer. For the purposes of this account, let’s say that I started drinking after I was already parked.
            Yeah, like I said already, I was up at the overlook.
            You know, the overlook. There’s only the one. Didn’t you ever take a girl up there?
            Huh. Well, I guess that ain’t all that surprising.
            Now come on, now, I didn’t mean nothing by it. Ain’t none of my business anyway. Look, just trust me that when people say ‘the overlook,’ this is in fact the overlook they’re referring to.
            Well, there’s a dirt road, you’ll find it if you’re heading north on Highway 19 toward Lewiston. It’s just past the billboard with the Bible quote on it.
            Well, not sure why it matters, but I think it’s Proverbs 14:12. I think it goes something like, ‘There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.’ Pretty creepy, if you ask me.
            You seriously never been up to the overlook? And you grew up in this town? Well, here’s a tip, between you and me: if you’re looking to catch some dopers, just bring a paddywagon up there on any given night and you’ll be able to fill your quota for the whole month.
            Hey, you was the one asking about it. Not my fault I got sidetracked. So I was up on the overlook last night, and I was all alone up there when I saw it.
            I don’t know, there’s all sorts of reasons. Maybe it was the chill in the air that kept the usual crowd away. Or maybe, as I suspect, the phenomenon I witnessed was intended for my eyes only.
            Did you hear about the UFO sighting near Highland, Illinois a few years back? The man who saw it, I think he owned a miniature golf course or something, he described it as a huge black triangle, silent as the night, floating just above the treetops. Lot of other people saw it too. I believe I saw something like that, except the black triangle in Illinois was described as having bright, pulsating lights on the corners, while the one I saw did not. The triangle I saw was so dark, in fact, that I didn’t so much see it appear as I did see a section of the sky over Clarksburg disappear. Like someone just shut off power to that part of space.
            After a few seconds, this brilliant blue light came out the center of the triangle. It came down in like a big column, straight down onto the 50 yard line of the East Clarksburg High School football field.
            I fell right off the hood of my brother’s truck and landed in the dirt. I started to scramble to my feet, but I froze there, on my hands and knees, when I saw what looked like a figure float down through the column of light.
            Like a fuzzy white silhouette, but Clint, when it landed on the 50 yard line, kneeling in a position not unlike my own, I knew that it was Wayne.
            Because I just knew. When every nerve in your body, every cell, tells you that you’re witnessing the impossible, you don’t argue. You just change your definition of impossible. You know, they never actually found his body.
            I didn’t even bother grabbing the rest of the beer. I dashed back to the truck, and Clint, my hands were shaking something fierce as I fumbled with the keys. It took me three tries to get the truck started. I remember watching the beer fly off the hood as I backed up and turned about, and I told myself that it didn’t matter because if this was really happening, I would never drink again.
I sped down the hill, fast enough that I was afraid I might go crashing through the guardrail and into the ravine, and swerved onto Highway 19. Didn’t even look for oncoming traffic. It’s a damn wonder I wasn’t T-boned. My heart was pounding, and I kept repeating,             I think I repeated to myself, ‘Please wait. Please wait for me.’
            Right as I came off 19 and turned onto Fields Road, a shape popped up in front of the truck and there was nothing I could do. I ran right over it. I figured it was a deer, they’re always wandering out of the woods right around there. Under any other circumstances, I’d have stopped and checked on it, you have to believe I would, but I couldn’t. Not when my brother was waiting for me.
            I got to the high school and sprinted from my truck and hopped the fence into the stadium. The light was gone. I ran to the 50 yard line, but he wasn’t there. You won’t believe this, Clint, but I tell you, it felt like losing my brother all over again. But as I stood there bent over, trying to catch my breath, I saw the proof of what I’d seen. A perfect circle of scorched grass, centered right on the 50 yard line.
            I don’t know, Clint. My guess is that the government came in and removed the evidence. Replacing the grass on a high school football field overnight, in the middle of summer? That’s nothing. Not for them.
            No, I didn’t know him. I never even met the guy. Wouldn’t have known him from a hole in the ground. And anybody who tells you otherwise is a fucking liar.



--
Justin Eisenstadt's fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Swarm, GAMBAZine, The Ilanot Review, Behemoth Review, and Connotation Press. He also co­writes a blog, We Write Together, with his partner, fellow fiction writer Katherine Bell. Justin, Katherine, and their three cats live in Spokane, WA.

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  • Home
  • About
    • Our Story
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  • Features
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  • Previous Issues
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Issue 22 Fall 2021
    • Issue #22 Art Fall 2021 >
      • Bonnie Severien Fall 2021
      • Camilla Taylor Fall 2021
      • Guilherme Bergamini Fall 2021
      • Emanuela Iorga Fall 2021
    • Issue #22 Poetry Fall 2021 >
      • Maureen Alsop Fall 2021
      • Annah Browning Fall 2021
      • Romana Iorga Fall 2021
      • Natalie Hampton Fall 2021
      • Sherine Gilmour Fall 2021
      • Adam Day Fall 2021
      • Amanda Auchter Fall 2021
      • Adam Tavel Fall 2021
      • Sara Moore Fall 2021
      • Karen Rigby Fall 2021
      • Daniel Zhang Fall 2021
      • Erika Lutzner Fall 2021
      • Kindall Fredricks Fall 2021
      • Cin Salach Fall 2021
      • Andrew Zawacki Fall 2021
      • Micah Ruelle Fall 2021
      • Rachel Stempel Fall 2021
      • Haley Wooning Fall 2021
      • Rikki Santer Fall 2021
      • Evy Shen Fall 2021
      • Suzanne Frischkorn Fall 2021
      • Danielle Rose Fall 2021
      • Eric Burgoyne Fall 2021
      • John Cullen Fall 2021
      • Maureen Seaton Fall 2021
      • Hannah Stephens Fall 2021
    • Issue #22 Nonfiction Fall 2021 >
      • Kevin Grauke Fall 2021
      • Courtney Justus Fall 2021
      • Amy Nicholson Fall 2021
    • Issue #22 Fiction Fall 2021 >
      • Tina Jenkins Bell Fall 2021
      • David Obuchowski Fall 2021
      • Thomas Misuraca Fall 2021
      • Aiden Baker Fall 2021
      • Jenny Magnus Fall 2021
  • Issue 23 Spring 2022
    • Issue #23 Art Spring 2022 >
      • Jonathan Kvassay Spring 2022
      • Karyna McGlynn Spring 2022
      • Andrea Kowch Spring 2022
      • Layla Garcia-Torres Spring 2022
    • Issue #23 Poetry Spring 2022 >
      • Robin Gow Spring 2022
      • T.D. Walker Spring 2022
      • Jen Schalliol Huang Spring 2022
      • Yvonne Zipter Spring 2022
      • Carrie McGath Spring 2022
      • Lupita Eyde-Tucker Spring 2022
      • Susan L. Leary Spring 2022
      • Kate Sweeney Spring 2022
      • Rita Mookerjee Spring 2022
      • Erin Carlyle Spring 2022
      • Cori Bratty-Rudd Spring 2022
      • Jen Karetnick Spring 2022
      • Meghan Sterling Spring 2022
      • Lorelei Bacht Spring 2022
      • Michael Passafiume Spring 2022
      • Jeannine Hall Gailey Spring 2022
      • Phil Goldstein Spring 2022
      • Michael Mingo Spring 2022
      • Angie Macri Spring 2022
      • Martha Silano Spring 2022
      • Vismai Rao Spring 2022
      • Anna Laura Reeve Spring 2022
      • Jenny Irish Spring 2022
      • Marek Kulig Spring 2022
      • Jami Macarty Spring 2022
      • Sarah A. Rae Spring 2022
      • Brittney Corrigan Spring 2022
      • Callista Buchen Spring 2022
      • Issam Zineh Spring 2022
      • MICHAEL CHANG Spring 2022
      • henry 7. reneau, jr. Spring 2022
      • Leah Umansky Spring 2022
      • Cody Beck Spring 2022
      • Danyal Kim Spring 2022
      • Rachel DeWoskin Spring 2022
    • Issue #23 Fiction Spring 2022 >
      • Melissa Boberg Spring 2022
    • Issue #23 Nonfiction Spring 2022 >
      • Srinaath Perangur Spring 2022
      • Audrey T. Carroll Spring 2022
  • Issue #24 Fall 2022
    • Issue #24 Art Fall 2022 >
      • Marsha Solomon Fall 2022
      • Edward Lee Fall 2022
      • Harryette Mullen Fall 2022
      • Jezzelle Kellam Fall 2022
      • Irina Greciuhina Fall 2022
      • Natalie Christensen Fall 2022
      • Mark Yale Harris Fall 2022
      • Amy Nelder Fall 2022
      • Bette Ridgeway Fall 2022
      • Ursula Sokolowska Fall 2022
    • Issue #24 Poetry Fall 2022 >
      • William Stobb Fall 2022
      • e Fall 2022
      • Stefanie Kirby Fall 2022
      • Lisa Ampleman Fall 2022
      • Will Cordeiro Fall 2022
      • Jesica Davis Fall 2022
      • Peter O'Donovan Fall 2022
      • Mackenzie Carignan Fall 2022
      • Jason Fraley Fall 2022
      • Barbara Saunier Fall 2022
      • Chad Weeden Fall 2022
      • Nick Rattner Fall 2022
      • Cynthia Schwartzberg Edlow Fall 2022
      • Summer J. Hart Fall 2022
      • Daniel Suá​rez Fall 2022
      • Sara Kearns Fall 2022
      • Millicent Borges Accardi Fall 2022
      • Liz Robbins Fall 2022
      • john compton Fall 2022
      • Esther Sadoff Fall 2022
      • Whitney Koo Fall 2022
      • W. J. Lofton Fall 2022
      • Rachel Reynolds Fall 2022
      • Kimberly Ann Priest Fall 2022
      • Annie Przypyszny Fall 2022
      • Konstantin Kulakov Fall 2022
      • Nellie Cox Fall 2022
      • Jennifer Martelli Fall 2022
      • SM Stubbs Fall 2022
      • Joshua Bird Fall 2022
    • Issue #24 Fiction Fall 2022 >
      • Otis Fuqua Fall 2022
      • Hannah Harlow Fall 2022
      • Natalia Nebel Fall 2022
      • Kate Maxwell Fall 2022
      • Helena Pantsis Fall 2022
    • Issue #24 Nonfiction Fall 2022 >
      • Courtney Ludwick Fall 2022
      • Anna Oberg Fall 2022
      • Acadia Currah Fall 2022