Marianne Alanie Lacy __________ Inspired by the painting “Marianne” by Karl Hubbuch My mornings are often dark when they needn’t be. I’ve never been a morning person. I sleep through alarms and grumble through breakfast. But today, today is different. Today, my morning is golden. A rich, orange-toned golden that…
Read MoreThe Rubik’s Cube Eleanor Levine __________ My sister Adelaide got me a Rubik’s Cube for Hanukkah. Every year she and her wife get me whatever is on sale at Aldi. One year it was three bags of coffee that I threw out, though I could have taken them to my…
Read MoreRakpabon (รักษ์ป่าบอน) Ashley Mangtani __________ I do not know them, and they do not know me. The men in the brown trucks call me by a name a clerk typed onto a card. Jeab Rakpabon (เจี๊ยบ รักษ์ป่าบอน) Printed on me like a warning. I am the Protector of Pa Bon…
Read MoreDreams of an Old Cat Meg Pokrass __________ Waiting for the vet to arrive with his needle, the doorbell startles early. Swallowing a lump, I open the door to a rumpled middle-aged man. “Come in and sit down. I’ll put the kettle on.” “Sure. Thank you,” he says awkwardly. On…
Read MoreOf the Cat’s Deathly Inquiries Racquel Lee __________ A cat, such a small, antsy little thing, asks one question when one of its lives has been taken. Each question that was asked— whether the death was minuscule or significant in its impermanence, whether that death was something that could’ve been…
Read MoreHope is the thing with feathers Mark LaMonda __________ For some reason it seemed that most of what was in our house was either my father’s or my sister’s. My mother had been dead for three years, and my father favored my sister. But, my father did give me an…
Read MoreClues Blues Hunter Cooley __________ “We got ourselves in a rough spot, Ms. Dutchess. Give it to me straight.” Spade barked. “I told you. That’s all I know, Mr. Spade.” “Tuesday. Run me through it.” “I was in bed, sir.” “Out by 2 p.m.? Must have had something on your…
Read MoreOutlook Good! Mikki Aronoff and Katherine Silver-Hajo __________ Math exam looming, me procrastinating, I tune in to the probability of a passing grade like a luminous radio dial, unfazed by the static of Long John Silver’s tatty parrot, shoulder-bound but hankering for a branch, squawking salty bilge—Pieces of nine! Pieces…
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…
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