HOW TO SURVIVE YOUR FIRST JOB by Ella Mear
What time is it? I pull out my phone and look at the time. 10:30?! It’s Friday, and we have been closed for two and a half hours! Why is it taking so long?...
TENSE MATTERS by Chelsea Owens
The Past
My brother, Justin, died in June 2022. The exact date, cause, and time were a mystery. The coroner said “when they cut him open” he had upper and lower GI bleeds, severe cirrhosis...
IF YOU LEAVE, WHERE WILL YOU GO? Lisa Hoelzer
I recently left the strict high-demand religion I belonged to for the past thirty years. The values and practices associated with my faith shaped every part of my life: family priorities, Sunday behaviors, clothing,...
DAYLIGHT SAVES by Kay Smith Blum
My head is in a story that I need to submit by today, when my husband comes into the kitchen. I can’t exit until my coffee is done even though any conversation will drain...
THE SETTING by Emily Vest
The Crescent Woods Skate Park
Drake chants from teenagers’ Bluetooth radios, his voice reverberating against the hot metal skateboard ramps of this summer evening. Elementary school kids sneaker up the ramps and slide back down,...
THE STORY OF THE STORYTELLERS by Richard Owen Collins
This is the kind of thing I would normally put in a fictional story I’m writing as part of a character’s opinion. It’s like I’m protecting myself that way.
Because the thing is I have...
THE CATCH by Kristen Langlois
I’ve always hated fishing. My father took me when I was a teen, and the horror thatfollowed ensured I’d never do it again. My husband loves fishing, and when he first asked mewhy I...