The Box on West 129th Street Stephen Kramer Avitabile __________ No one ever moved that dusty old box on West 129th Street. Everyone ignored it, hopingsomeone else would make it their problem. But there it sat, collecting dust, blocking everyone’sway as they traveled up and down the sidewalk, unable to…
Read More“Boo”din: The Ticking Clock, Oct ’25 Editor: Vallie Lynn Watson Managing Editor: Taryn White Guest Editor: Abbie Skinner Associate Editor: Leah Joseph Assistant Editors: Robbie Hess and Jade Turner Intern: Margaret Brantley Laura Jacob, “The Ticking Clock” Letter from the Editor by Vallie Lynn Watson Letter from the Guest Editor…
Read MoreThe Second Law of Thermodynamics Shweta Ravi __________ Like the man in the video game, you wonder if you’re being busy, intelligent or foolish. OnSundays, you rinse Mahira’s white school sneakers in vinegar and sunlight before inclining them on the porch like poodles waiting to be tethered. On Mondays you…
Read MoreLinda McMullen __________ Banner Days Prom night, aged 17: the surreptitious banner, half-crouching behind a fake fig tree, read “Enchanted Garden”. I was The Lady in Red. You blushed, and asked me to dance – and I cocked my head to the side, scrambling to recollect. Were you the scullion…
Read MoreMy Med School OSCE Christine Benton Criswell __________ I knew I was in for it when Allen came out of the exam room. He looked pained. “It was awful,” he said. “All I can say is … good luck.” We were participating in our medical school OSCE—the Objective Structured ClinicalExam.…
Read MoreWalrus Sarp Sozdinler __________ Where the name came from, I have no clue. I don’t believe anyone knows, not really. God knows the first time I heard it, my spine tingled in alarm. I don’t like the looks of them, those walruses. Someone told us back then that the name sounds even worse…
Read MoreCircle 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…
Read MorePride, 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…
Read MoreNo Place to Belong Mohamed Morshed __________ I was in one of those minibuses that looked like giant rats, sitting in the passenger seat, with the two back rows empty, speeding down one of Aden’s coastal roads toward a refugee camp. The Arabian Sea stretched far into the horizon cutting…
Read MoreTrim the Cauliflower Rhys Ramsay __________ My father’s English is broken, which suits him just fine. He’s never been one for conversation, which can be nice, for a while—he listens, and not just to reply like some do. Between us, we speak only in our mother tongue. Like a secret…
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