Arrows by Lydia Copeland art by Robinson Accola No one knows about the jaws in the barn, worn and white and cool as pudding. Nor the rabbit’s nest in the mulberry bush. Nor the owls which rally together to take our cats one by one. No one knows about the black snakes we catch and refer to as pythons. We wander around all summer. We find these things. There are two of us. I love him, but one day he will punch me in the stomach and that will be it. Right now we sit in sunlight in the roofless barn, drawing arrows on his arms that point to me. We play house in the buildings on my parents’ land. We empty the old WD40 cans into the walls until all the rooms have an oily sheen. We play garden in the fields. He braids my hair out there, puts the earrings in my ear lobes, dresses me like a woman. Every evening we hear my father’s snare drum in the distance. He is in the attic with his trap set, and there are no ears except ours and my mother’s to hear him. When we’re apart I think of him and want him to watch me lifting the arm on the record player, loading the towels in the washer, chopping my mother’s vegetables for one of her time-saver meals. I want him then in an armchair pressing tobacco into a pipe, striking a match, blowing rings of smoke onto my fingers. All content in SmokeLong Quarterly copyright 2003-2010 by its authors.
	Lydia Copeland's stories have appeared in Glimmer Train, Quick Fiction, Pindeldyboz, elimae, Dogzplot, and others. Her chapbook, "Haircut Stories," is available from the Achilles Chapbook series and as part of the chapbook collective, Fox Force 5 from Paper Hero Press. She works in Manhattan and lives in New Jersey with her husband and son. Read the interview. Robinson Accola creates artwork for SmokeLong Quarterly as needed.
	Issue Twenty-Six (September 28, 2009): The Teaching Assistant and the Math Professor by Shaindel Beers «» Ask for This by Myfanwy Collins «» Arrows by Lydia Copeland «» Pregnant With Peanut Butter by Michael Czyzniejewski «» How to Disappear Completely by Nadine Darling «» The Guitarist by Will Donnelly «» Prague by Kathy Fish «» Record Albums by Sherrie Flick «» Cooped by Alyson Foster «» Eye by Foust «» Grendel by Steven Gullion «» First Husband by Tiff Holland «» They Marched Into Fields by Jamie Iredell «» Port of Spain by Beverly A. Jackson «» Nobody Like You by Jeff Landon «» Little Girls by Tara Laskowski «» Office at Night by Pamela Painter «» So Long by Ellen Parker «» Quiet Things by Lauren M. Spencer «» My Girlfriend Leaves the Atmosphere by Angi Becker Stevens «» In Julie's Place by S. A. Tranter «» Blue-Suited Henchman, Kicked Into Shark Tank by Kevin Wilson «» 2 / 8 by Joseph Young «» Interviews: Shaindel Beers «» Myfanwy Collins «» Lydia Copeland «» Michael Czyzniejewski «» Nadine Darling «» Will Donnelly «» Kathy Fish «» Sherrie Flick «» Alyson Foster «» Foust «» Steven Gullion «» Tiff Holland «» Jamie Iredell «» Beverly A. Jackson «» Jeff Landon «» Tara Laskowski «» Pamela Painter «» Ellen Parker «» Lauren M. Spencer «» Angi Becker Stevens «» S. A. Tranter «» Joseph Young «» Cover Art "Birds of Paradise" by Marty D. Ison «» Letter From the Editor