
Then and There
The Grass is Never Greener, Vinnie Hagar Mom used to tell me kindness is always the answer. At my Lutheran Elementary school we used to watch videos of starving children in…
The Grass is Never Greener, Vinnie Hagar Mom used to tell me kindness is always the answer. At my Lutheran Elementary school we used to watch videos of starving children in…
ano nakikita Mo?, harana 1948 Scientist Alfred Kinsey concludes that 37% of men have enjoyed homosexual activities at least once. 2002 – 54 years later – In the third grade,…
Defense Mechanism 3, Elizabeth Ellenwood I don’t remember being asked. I don’t remember even being told. I just woke up aboard this train, so far from home. And I’m afraid…
Two Rivers Meet, Rebecca Turnbull Maná booms from the CD player, making the walls quake and water drip from the showerhead. Mom throws the towel over my head, drying my…
Flickering Strings of Love, Paul Knight I love you the most watching you get pushed around in a crowd of people while a band plays— Your hair glued to your…
Element of Speech, Bethany Dudek Day 1, February 1999 First observation of symptoms. Subject is a Caucasian male, 3 years old as of today (February 20th), outwardly healthy, one younger…
Nature Administers a Rorschach Test, Margaret May 1 I pull my voice recorder out of my pocket, and press the red button. “Hi, mom,” I whisper, not wanting to disturb…
Warped, Rachel Donohue When the distance between the bottom of the steps and the edge of her bed was too far for her to travel, I made the journey happily and…
Say a Prayer, Mikaela Rae Antoigue In 2016, my grandparents’ dog died. He was an old dog, covered with warts, and they had to put him down due…
Shadows, Amanda Wisbeck Hey Tray, I know we’ve never talked, but I needed to reach out to someone. Someone that could understand what I’m feeling right now, what I’m going…
Grandma’s Cupcake Stand, Jessica Ashworth Mom and I built a planter box in the spot where the oak tree used to be, before it was killed by Tussock Moths. We…
Untitled, Elise Ketch Matthew The vaulted ceiling of early morning and hemlock canopy float around you like a vulture. I can see your fjord-blue eyes from this bird’s eye view.…
Wrung Out, Kaitlyn Kugler It is my thirteenth birthday. At the lunch table I sit facing my friends with a ten calorie bite of vanilla…
Talking Dead, Amanda Stephen As a child, one of her favourite games had been holding her breath. This usually took place in the bathtub, still big enough to…
Do You See Me?, Hannah Elizabeth High your footfall drops on the cement outside where I wait sound echoes my heartbeat matches your step stepped in the way…
Junglescape, Meagan Dwyer You wake up. You don’t know how long you’ve slept, but it’s time to get ready for school. Oddly enough, you rolled over onto…
Self-Portrait, Thomas Vause When you wake up, you will weigh yourself one, two, three times for safe measure. 95.0 lbs, 94.6 lbs, 94.8 lbs. Fat, fat, obnoxiously…
Suffocation, Elise Ketch Two girls at a softball game. One with silky golden hair and one with red shoes. It’s one of their boyfriend’s games, one of…
Smooch, Cassandra Warner Grandma was squatting on a low stool in the stuffy bathroom, lit only with a window open to the traffic below and reeking of blood…
H2O, Erin Lee You must have stared at your reflection for an hour before the choice was made. Your eyes followed up the slope of your nose to your eyebrows…
Emerge, Meagan Dwyer [Trigger Warning: Graphic discussion of suicidal ideation and self harm] When I was seventeen, I wanted to die. There was something terrifying about it, more terrifying than the…
Bee Girl, Kate Mitchell I am the woman bending on a busy sidewalk to scoop up the pests, the one pulling her car over on the 101 freeway to…