THE ISSUE WITH INTIMACY • by Kathryn Ward
When I was sixteen it was my fantasy to get beaten up. I was sure that a blinding fist to the eye and a broken nose would trigger a release in me, in the same way I imagined jumping off… Continue Reading
high school
ALL BOY • by Charles C Cole
Joey Huff’s parents, the only parents he’d ever known, were childless, near 50, with little exposure to children when they brought him home from the adoption agency. They were so happy that they spoiled him from the get-go and, from… Continue Reading
GUTS • by Emma Hall
High school began and I was determined to be different. I grew my hair out all summer so that I could wear it up in a high and slightly off-centre ponytail. Gone was my chin-length bob that framed my round… Continue Reading
UNREQUITED ZOMBIE LOVE • by Michael McCourt
It’s not easy being in love when you’re undead. I mean, this definitely isn’t the afterlife I would have chosen for myself. If I had the choice, I’d still be living and breathing and sitting in AP Calc next to… Continue Reading
SHIA • by Eli Simmons
Her home was not a reflection of herself. Its walls didn’t exude her humor, wit, or pastimes. Shia was the result of a culture she didn’t belong to, its customs rooted in pop culture references and hip-hop. I can remember… Continue Reading
JIMMY’S HAIKU • by Jakob Westpfahl
On our first day back from Summer Break, my best friend Jimmy fell out of his chair clutching his knee, screaming. I laughed, believing this to be an out-of-place practical joke I was usually in on. Jimmy kept saying his… Continue Reading
SPLIT • by Margaret Madole
It started with theater. Abby sang a solo, and when she went back and watched the video, she didn’t recognize herself. She thought that it just proved how good her acting was, how she was buried in her character, but… Continue Reading
ISAAC NEWTON FAILED TO ACCOUNT FOR LOVE • by Anatoly Belilovsky
On a cold, snowy day in January, as an old song played on the radio, Joe, whose birthday was in September, had more trouble than usual getting ready for school. “Eat your breakfast, son,” his father said. “Today is, what,… Continue Reading
NO ONE IS IN CUSTODY • by Ebony L. Morman
Fortunately and unfortunately, no two days are the same. “I’ll be damned if I let them get the best of me, today! Not me, not today!” I say to myself. The morning bell screams through the sound system. Within minutes,… Continue Reading
LOVE ME NOT • by Stella B James
He loves me. I study the petal held between my fingertips with interest, amused that something so fragile could determine my heart’s fate. I drop it to float down and land on the pavement where many discarded petals lay scattered… Continue Reading