Neighborhood Watch by Nance Knauer I've lived below her for almost a year now, and I'm getting to know her better than I had planned. Love to her means passion. Translation—skin smacking and high decibel communication. Tonight's fight has a higher pitch to it, though, and I think about calling the cops, pick up the phone, watch in amazement as her leg falls past my window to land foot up in the brambles. The nails are painted cotton candy pink, which glows hot under the streetlight. I put the phone down and walk to the front room, following the running steps above. Cheek to the hollow metal door, I squint through the peep hole and watch her chase him down the stairs with a baseball bat. She's quicker, and somehow more beautiful, without the leg. He's in full retreat. Tomorrow he's going to need stitches but it will be too late, and every time he looks in the mirror, he's going to see that scar over his left eye and fall in love with her all over again. She retrieves her leg, caressing the instep and kissing it just behind the knee, screams one last epithet, almost fondly, at his speeding truck, then makes her way up the stairs, using the leg as a cane. The bat, forgotten, rolls toward the street. Her door slams and I wander into the kitchen for a cold drink, and I choke on the last swallow with the realization. All content in SmokeLong Quarterly copyright 2003-2008 by its authors.
	Nance Knauer is a transplanted southerner who gathers wool all day and knits it together all night. Published at The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, now dealing with the fame of it all. Read the interview.
	Issue One (September 15, 2003): Pressing Hard by Marcia Mascolini «» A Cautionary Measure by Peggy Duffy «» I Watch by Stephanie Dial «» Rest in Peace by Charlotte Jones «» Mrs. Mitts by Beverly C. Lucey «» Speak of the Dead by Ann Zimmerman «» A Private Trinity by Darlene Cah «» The Chair Affair by Jade Walker «» A Trip To The Grocer's by Beverly Jackson «» I Shall Not Wear Purple by Margaret A. Frey «» Generations by Catherine Talley «» Dinner's Ready! by Linda Pierce «» How Pusch Came To Shovel by Gary Glauber «» Gerontophile: An Imposition by S.H. Gall «» Walking the Plank by Sheila Killian «» Neighborhood Watch by Nance Knauer «» Scent and Sensibility by Jeff Lindsey «» Interviews: Marcia Mascolini «» Peggy Duffy «» Stephanie Dial «» Charlotte Jones «» Beverly C. Lucey «» Ann Zimmerman «» Darlene Cah «» Jade Walker «» Beverly Jackson «» Margaret A. Frey «» Catherine Talley «» Linda Pierce «» Gary Glauber «» S.H. Gall «» Sheila Killian «» Nance Knauer «» Jeff Lindsey «» Cover Art "Purpleless" by Rebecca Gullickson, inspired by "I Shall Not Wear Purple" by Margaret A. Frey «» Letter From the Editor