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How Your World Ends

How Your World Ends A Fibonacci series flash Keith Powell __________ baDUM. baDUM. Heart attack? You lurch outside. The bar’s back alley beckons. You worry you might die in secret here. People will find your pickled corpse between garbage cans and crushed cigarette butts. People will tut-tut that that’s the…

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Word Problems (You Do the Math)

Word Problems (You Do the Math) Christina Tudor __________ 1. If you walk down Fletcher Avenue instead of Adams Lane every time you walk home because, although it’s .3 miles longer, Fletcher Avenue has better lighting, more witnesses, how many extra miles do you walk in a year, in a…

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Universal Language, July ’25

Universal Language, July ’25 Editor: Vallie Lynn Watson Managing/Guest Editor: Karris Rae Associate Editor: Taryn White Assistant Editors: Robbie Hess, Leah Joseph, Jade Turner, Meilyn Woods Nam Hoang Tran, “//||\\||//||\\||//,” photography. Letter from the Editor by Vallie Lynn Watson Letter from the Guest Editor by Karris Rae Fiction “How Your…

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A Nest of Hornets

Emma Goldman-Sherman __________ A Nest of Hornets That summer, I told her, “I’m a boy.” My mother laughed and said, “The hell you are.” After dinner, I chased fireflies. I decided their lights meant green for boys, red for girls even if it wasn’t science. I trapped the red ones…

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Thalassophilia

Thalassophilia Selene Sezer __________ I remember the day you asked me if I already knew how I’d die. I assumed you were simply starting a conversation and would follow up a second later with your own answer. But no. You, with your green shimmering eyes, fixed on me. I was…

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The Fireworks

The Fireworks Swetha Amit __________ After I signed the divorce papers last month, I sat on my balcony in my East Bay apartment overlooking Lake Merritt. The cool July air made me pull my blanket tighter around my shoulders. Near the lake, families and couples gathered. Laughter floated in the…

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Everyone at the Sand Sculpting Contest, Imperial Beach, California, 1985

Everyone at the Sand Sculpting Contest, Imperial Beach, California, 1985 Lynn Mundell __________Jennifer says none of us have any imagination or experience, so we should make a sand Pop-Tart, which will require zero skill. We all stand around in different colored bikinis like a box of crayons melting in the…

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Circle of Fifths

Circle of Fifths Richard Bader __________ Ronald quit the chorus. He didn’t consider this the end of his singing career — there were lots of other places he could sing, that could make use of his talents, talents that he perhaps thought were greater than they actually were — but…

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Pride, June ’25

Pride, June ’25 Editor: Vallie Lynn Watson Guest Editor: Robbie Hess Managing Editor: Karris Rae Associate Editor: Taryn White Assistant Editors: Leah Joseph, Jade Turner, Meilyn Woods Deborah Chava Singer, “Rainbow Blossoms,” Digital Artwork Letter from the Editor by Vallie Lynn Watson Letter from the Guest Editor by Robbie Hess…

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Finding Home: Immigration and Displacement, May ’25

Finding Home: Immigration and Displacement, May ’25 Editor: Vallie Lynn Watson Guest Editor: Leah Joseph Managing Editor: Karris Rae Associate Editor: Taryn White Assistant Editors: Robbie Hess, Jade Turner, Meilyn Woods Interns: Ta’Mya Davis, Elaine Schroeder Donna Turan, “Liberty’s Lament,” Acrylic, marker, and pen on canvas Letter from the Editor…

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