Monsters, Child’s Play, & Bring the Nightmare to Bed Michelle Holland __________ Monsters Are monsters imaginary, the ones in the dark closet, behind the musty winter jackets, the ones just beyond the fence line where the brush and debris make it impossible to run, should the need arise, arms flailing,…
Read MoreLetter from the Guest Editor Abbie Skinner __________ I’m baaaack… It has been an absolute honor and privilege to return from the great beyond (aka post-graduation) to guest edit this haunting third edition of “Boo”din. In this “Creature Feature” edition. I hope you will find poems and stories that encapsulate all…
Read MoreEmails I Can’t Send McNeese’s Undergraduate Fiction Workshop, Fall 2024 __________ TO: ███████ FROM: ███████ SUBJECT: Your Ignorance Dear Inadequate Coworker, I hope this email finds you well so that your day can be ruined. I just wanted to make you aware that your recent actions are unnecessary and unprofessional.…
Read MoreWork Week Benjamin Niespodziany __________ [1] Monday Mood I panickedin my company’s five-flavoredcola elevator. Later,much later,I was fine. [2] Tuesday Blues I caught fireat my cubicle.You used a rulerto make it stop. [3] Wednesday Raise They gave memore money. A newnumber. Clean mug.I hugged my desk.I crackeda smile. [4] Thursday…
Read MoreWrong Song Devon Neal __________ For a moment the copper-feathered robin the exact size as my two palms, with its midnight-storm eye and a beakful of tattered acorn, stopped on the concrete sill of the fourth-floor office window expecting to find an underdressed princess, mid-song, looking for help with tidying…
Read MoreMy Brief Life as a Dean Jennifer Lagier __________ Night One: a man beats his child in the parking lot. I phone the police, an ambulance, child protective services, our security guards. Night Two: across the street, gang-bangers shoot a man as he stands on his lawn. I phone the…
Read MoreThe Building Manager Lora Keller __________ When their Schwinns and Toyotas slink out the drive, I haunt their burrows. I thaw her sibilance with a comma splash and one tangled ampersand. His easel creaks as I dab fuschia, his sunset now inferno. I thread golden floss and scatter a spray…
Read MoreWhy Hawks Make Bad Bosses Jean Janicke __________ Circling on thermals dark suits and auburn feathers soar above pay grades. Their shadows darken cubicles. A high-pitched descending keeeeer freezes fingers over keyboards. They leave one small wing on the floor near the printer, prey partly eaten. __________ Jean Janicke spends…
Read MoreFrom the Back of the Room Mary Buchinger __________ Faculty Meeting No. 11 It’s the Dolphin standing on his tail waving his flippers. “Assessment” says this pet—“This is our task for this year!” Oh the ball of unreality, how it lights on his nose, and rises like an example. The…
Read MoreSlingshot Factory Andrew Zornoza __________ ASPX-PIM begins to warm up! ASPX-PIM is the name of our whirring plastic injection machine. Deep inside its belly, manifold heaters let electrical current puddle into heat with measured control. It’s very important for everything ASPX-PIM does to be measured. Excess heat, excess plastic, excess…
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