Checked Out Grady VanWright __________ Click-clack of the automatic doors, swoosh of conditional air blasting cologne-thick with corporate invitation. “Welcome to Harper & Sons,” sings the perky teen behind the counter, but her eyes flicker, her tongue too quick to swallow the sir. Just a pause–one fraction of a blink…
Read MoreSlow Bones Sacha Bissonnette __________ My daddy is my protector. He taught me that there are fast bones and slow bones and bones that will never heal. He taught me that in all cases, it’s always the bones that will give you away. This is the last time, he said.…
Read MoreBlack History Month, Feb ’25 Editor: Vallie Lynn Watson Managing Editor: Karris Rae Associate Editor: Taryn White Assistant Editors: Robbie Hess, Leah Joseph, Jade Turner, Meilyn Woods Interns: Ta’Mya Davis, Elaine Schroeder Malina Catlett, “Untitled” Letter from the Editor by Vallie Lynn Watson Letter from the Guest Editor by Meilyn…
Read MoreStop Sign, Where We Were, & Where We Came To Gary Fincke __________ Stop Sign My mother, motionless and unblinking, studied the road for so long I began to imagine my sister and I standing on the shoulder, an ambulance parked nearby. Though I had no idea what her condition…
Read MoreTrip to Joshua Tree, Life Drawing, & Engagement Merridawn Duckler __________ Trip to Joshua Tree Rocks pile up like slabs of clay in a beginner pottery class. We cut them with a wire, my favoritepart. I didn’t care about vessels then. I just wanted to part clay. Humming the U2…
Read MoreEntomology J.M.J. Brewer __________ Day 43. Nine Mansion Members remained in the game. Angie awoke atop a dead arm because it was difficult to sleep comfortably in a bed shaped like a banana peel. This season’s Island Mansion! theme was “Inspecting Insects,” and in turn the Destitute Room theme was…
Read MoreTwo Birds R.G. Mint __________ When we moved to Hillside Park, we were unaware it included an actual park. Within our neighborhood, in fact. Mr. Rollins and I hadn’t expected such an amenity on the street where we introduced our firstborn, but we thought it a godsend. Our son was…
Read MoreRuination Kent Quaney __________ We’re sitting out on the back deck in the Alabama spring heat, drinking iced tea, going over the plan for that evening’s reading, shouting over the savage barking of the neighbor’s dogs. Snarls and howls from the other side of the fence make it almost impossible…
Read MoreEditor: Vallie Lynn Watson Managing Editor: Karris Rae Associate Editor: Taryn White Assistant Editors: Robbie Hess, Leah Joseph, Jade Turner, Meilyn Woods Interns: Ta’Mya Davis, Elaine Schroeder Natalie Popp, This Looks Like a Good Spot for a Nap, digital painting experimenting with lightings effects on mood Letter from the Editor…
Read MoreGarbage Fish Lucy Zhang __________ We only eat catfish heads when our parents aren’t around to lecture us. Ving Hung Supermarket sells them for less than $2 per pound, and they make a pleasant, fishy, but not stinky (so long as you add a handful of ginger), soup. Our parents…
Read More