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The Second Law of Thermodynamics

The 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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Banner Days & The Life of the Mind

Linda 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…

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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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Figs

Figs Meg Pokrass __________ She was eating fruit from her tree, gazing with those dark brown eyes. These figs are soready, she said, eying me close. She touched my fingers. How sticky it felt when she focusedon me— irises like fruit flies. You must be thinking I’m someone else, I…

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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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Cumulonimbus

Cumulonimbus Kathryn Silver-Hajo __________ Mama used to sing to Sami and me at night, sounds of yearning emerging from deep in her chest like a trapped owl was trying to escape. Most mornings, Baba walked us to school, and he’d say he needed quiet so he could plan his day.…

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Giant Pandas Eat Bamboo

Giant Pandas Eat Bamboo Rina Palumbo __________ You could hear the steady sound of chewing, the tearing, the chomping, the rhythmic circularmunching of the giant panda. You could hear the ripping, the tearing, the breaking of thebamboo: stems one by one, leaves one by one, new shoots in bunches. You…

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