Sylvia Runte A common misconception shared by most I meet is that I’m a teenage girl. My vertical nature and tan, hairless limbs effectively trick the common eye. Like most teenage girls, I have my hair highlighted. My ears are pierced (as well as my navel). I can kick a soccer ball and run great … Continue reading Chronicles of a Sloth
That Long Windy Road
Ivette Bautista 5 years, together since the 7th grade. You get so attached that you can't imagine your life without them. Everyday, at least one text, good things and bad have passed and he was still there. Countless sleepless nights where he stayed up with me. Countless arguments we were never able to see eye … Continue reading That Long Windy Road
Lost At Sea
Lafane Williams I remember the fallen. Do they think of me? Irememberthefallendotheythinkofme?Irememberthefallendotheythinkofme?Irememberthefallendotheythinkofme?Irememberthefallendotheythinkofme?Irememberthefallendotheythinkofme?Irememberthefallendotheythinkofme? T’was a long fifteen years ago—yes it was. Three young men, blinded by the promise of adventure, riches, and romance had set sail to what they hoped would be a swash-buckling life of frivolity. Three fools they were. Three fools indeed. Oh, how … Continue reading Lost At Sea
Nothing More
Lilas Chaouche My parents died. I know my therapist told me not to introduce myself with that line, but holding my tongue makes me fragile. You taught me that. If I’m not strong willed, I’m nothing more than a coward. I taught myself that. As I make my way to my childhood bedroom, the hairs … Continue reading Nothing More
Avoidance
Elizabeth Ramp Avoidance. That’s the first step. Don’t make eye contact. Stare at the plate in front of you instead. Memorize the groves on the edge, get lost in swirl after swirl, pick apart each detail. Eat. But not too quickly and not too slow either. Don’t get any bright ideas. Replicate the decals of … Continue reading Avoidance
A Walk Downtown
Anna Padilla I shield my face as a large van speeds by, the bright headlights piercing right into my eyes. It’s one of maybe four cars I’ve seen all night, in the hours I’ve spent walking. I shiver, clutching the sleeves of my hoodie, it’s oddly cold for a September evening. The lamppost lights flicker … Continue reading A Walk Downtown
The Hand-Prints On My Body
Cliff McGee A boy, with white shoulder length hair, bangs that hid eyes, and pale, pale skin was in the shower, the water is beading and rolling off of his body and dripping onto the floor. His head pressed up against his crossed arms as he leaned against the wall, the water following the strands … Continue reading The Hand-Prints On My Body
Crescent
Prabh Chhokar "I am not my past. I am not my future. I am now. I am present. I am here. But, I cannot speak the same for my mind " 2:53 am. I sat beside the long window, falling to the floor and touching the ends of the wall. Past it, the image of … Continue reading Crescent
Tomorrow?
Ayomide Sowore I go a different way to work today. The bus usually scares me, a lack of seats and peculiar people aren’t a threat on the 9 a.m. train to Westchester, but the bus poses both of those possibilities and many more. I wake up early for the bus, so as not to walk … Continue reading Tomorrow?
Growing Up
Isra Khan I. The labor is hard. Harder than most. It is long, grueling, and bloody. At the end of it, there is a boy. He is born healthy. This is his first crime. For his mother will never truly recover from the ordeal, and his father will never forgive him for it. She holds … Continue reading Growing Up
