These eleven short fictions evoke the microcosmic worlds every human relationship contains. A woman is captivated by the stories her boyfriend tells about his exes. A faltering artist goes on a date with a married couple. Twin brothers work out their rivalry via the girl next door. In every one of these tales, we meet indelibly real and unforgettable people, a cast of rebels and dreamers trying to transform themselves, forge new destinies, or simply make the moment last.

Fiction. May-Lan Tan's first published story appeared in Zoetrope: All- Story in 2011, and her long- anticipated debut collection, Things to Make and Break (CB Editions), is poised to become a cult hit. The Guardian described it as "excellent... these strange, flinty, cigarette-stained narratives speed by, offering lots of surface tension and compelling deeper passions." Her US debut, GIRLY, presents two brand-new stories of young women plotting their escape from childhood. Both are Hong Kong schoolgirls, one destined to cross the ocean while the other daydreams about the airplanes that fly directly over her home.

The twelfth issue of Caketrain, featuring new work from Kirstin Allio, Riley Bingham, Laurie Blauner, Bridget Brewer, Ryan Call, J'Lyn Chapman, Jessica Comola, Yonca Karakas Demirel, Alexandra Dillard, Zachary Doss, Sarah Rose Etter, Brian Evenson, Kelsie Hahn, Joel Hans, Ya-Wen Ho, Dan Ivec, Jacqueline Kari, Davy Knittle, Alyce Knorr, Darby Larson, Gary Lutz, Elizabeth Mikesch, JoAnna Novak, Kim Parko, Vanessa Place, Jessica Poli, Nick Francis Potter, Daniel Wessler Riordan, Sally Rodgers, Freddy Ruppert, Kathryn Scanlan, May-Lan Tan, Adam Veal, Vanessa Angelica Villarreal, Rae Winkelstein, Timothy Wojcik. Edited by Amanda Raczkowski, Joseph Reed, Tanner Hadfield and Katy Mongeau.