We are proud to present
Twenty: The Anniversary Issue
of No Contact
A Letter From the Editors
by The Editors
No Contact has come a long way from the socially-distanced couch.
The Fable of the Footless Man
by Michael X. Wang
Those with neither land nor education had one remaining way to gain favor: possessing something the king personally desired.
Mother’s Garden / The Historian
by Andrew Bertaina
The past cannot be rewritten, his wife said ominously as she stirred the dry oats into a morning bake.
Texting You
by Dale Cottingham
And if I came to a new understanding
how would that fare? It’d be fine
I’m sure. I’d put it on the shelf
A Body That Is Warm
by Stephanie Frazee
On the way home, she calls work to say she will not be in tomorrow and begins to sob. John takes the phone and ends the call.
The Amber Night
by Jack Barker-Clark
We often tested each other’s commitments in the realms of fantasy — it was probably what broke us.
Two Micros
by Chelsea Voulgares
But the room rotated around me like it was the last night on earth and besides I was having such a good fucking time.
Two Final Girl Micros
by Meghan Phillips
In the town where all the final girls live, there are pumpkins on porches, all kitchen-knife carved.
A Review of Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain
by Adam Dalva
My adrenaline spikes every time the door opens; in the last nine minutes, I’ve beamed at four different men in glasses.
The Disputed Island / Statues
by Chris Haven
This was what the diplomat has lived for, these lonely meetings, the flip of the wind, a sip of the drink of the other.
Yell Jump and I Will Jump with You
by Matthew Mastricova
They yell jump and I jump with them and they yell jump and I jump with them and they yell jump and, actually, that’s more than enough jumping for tonight.
Damed if you do, Damned if you don’t
by Sara Potocsny
My memories keep trying to fuck one another, and my patience is growing so very thin.