{"id":20261,"date":"2025-07-22T11:22:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T16:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/?p=20261"},"modified":"2025-08-26T18:37:50","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T23:37:50","slug":"20261","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/the_atlantic\/","title":{"rendered":"The Atlantic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>The Atlantic<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-social-links is-content-justification-right is-layout-flex wp-container-core-social-links-is-layout-765c4724 wp-block-social-links-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-facebook  wp-block-social-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=61556140010887\" class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M12 2C6.5 2 2 6.5 2 12c0 5 3.7 9.1 8.4 9.9v-7H7.9V12h2.5V9.8c0-2.5 1.5-3.9 3.8-3.9 1.1 0 2.2.2 2.2.2v2.5h-1.3c-1.2 0-1.6.8-1.6 1.6V12h2.8l-.4 2.9h-2.3v7C18.3 21.1 22 17 22 12c0-5.5-4.5-10-10-10z\"><\/path><\/svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-instagram  wp-block-social-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/boudin_mcneese\/\" class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M12,4.622c2.403,0,2.688,0.009,3.637,0.052c0.877,0.04,1.354,0.187,1.671,0.31c0.42,0.163,0.72,0.358,1.035,0.673 c0.315,0.315,0.51,0.615,0.673,1.035c0.123,0.317,0.27,0.794,0.31,1.671c0.043,0.949,0.052,1.234,0.052,3.637 s-0.009,2.688-0.052,3.637c-0.04,0.877-0.187,1.354-0.31,1.671c-0.163,0.42-0.358,0.72-0.673,1.035 c-0.315,0.315-0.615,0.51-1.035,0.673c-0.317,0.123-0.794,0.27-1.671,0.31c-0.949,0.043-1.233,0.052-3.637,0.052 s-2.688-0.009-3.637-0.052c-0.877-0.04-1.354-0.187-1.671-0.31c-0.42-0.163-0.72-0.358-1.035-0.673 c-0.315-0.315-0.51-0.615-0.673-1.035c-0.123-0.317-0.27-0.794-0.31-1.671C4.631,14.688,4.622,14.403,4.622,12 s0.009-2.688,0.052-3.637c0.04-0.877,0.187-1.354,0.31-1.671c0.163-0.42,0.358-0.72,0.673-1.035 c0.315-0.315,0.615-0.51,1.035-0.673c0.317-0.123,0.794-0.27,1.671-0.31C9.312,4.631,9.597,4.622,12,4.622 M12,3 C9.556,3,9.249,3.01,8.289,3.054C7.331,3.098,6.677,3.25,6.105,3.472C5.513,3.702,5.011,4.01,4.511,4.511 c-0.5,0.5-0.808,1.002-1.038,1.594C3.25,6.677,3.098,7.331,3.054,8.289C3.01,9.249,3,9.556,3,12c0,2.444,0.01,2.751,0.054,3.711 c0.044,0.958,0.196,1.612,0.418,2.185c0.23,0.592,0.538,1.094,1.038,1.594c0.5,0.5,1.002,0.808,1.594,1.038 c0.572,0.222,1.227,0.375,2.185,0.418C9.249,20.99,9.556,21,12,21s2.751-0.01,3.711-0.054c0.958-0.044,1.612-0.196,2.185-0.418 c0.592-0.23,1.094-0.538,1.594-1.038c0.5-0.5,0.808-1.002,1.038-1.594c0.222-0.572,0.375-1.227,0.418-2.185 C20.99,14.751,21,14.444,21,12s-0.01-2.751-0.054-3.711c-0.044-0.958-0.196-1.612-0.418-2.185c-0.23-0.592-0.538-1.094-1.038-1.594 c-0.5-0.5-1.002-0.808-1.594-1.038c-0.572-0.222-1.227-0.375-2.185-0.418C14.751,3.01,14.444,3,12,3L12,3z M12,7.378 c-2.552,0-4.622,2.069-4.622,4.622S9.448,16.622,12,16.622s4.622-2.069,4.622-4.622S14.552,7.378,12,7.378z M12,15 c-1.657,0-3-1.343-3-3s1.343-3,3-3s3,1.343,3,3S13.657,15,12,15z M16.804,6.116c-0.596,0-1.08,0.484-1.08,1.08 s0.484,1.08,1.08,1.08c0.596,0,1.08-0.484,1.08-1.08S17.401,6.116,16.804,6.116z\"><\/path><\/svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Instagram<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Grace Ann Elinski<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I&#8217;ve tried to drown myself in the Atlantic a plethora of times. I say drown lightly. Once or twice on purpose, the number blurred by the waves and liquor, other times just so drunk that maybe I might have drowned. Obviously, every time, I didn\u2019t. Every time me and my cousin got drunk as adolescents we\u2019d make the short walk to the beach, the moon like a magnet to our chests. It&#8217;s pitch black at night out there, I mean pitch. The moon glow lights up a strip of the big body but that is it. The Atlantic is no Gulf of Mexico; there is no trash and the water is not still. At night it grows wet and heavy; an inky blackness. Maybe we\u2019re just pulled close at night like the moon is. For years, I have tried to come to understand it: the pull of the Atlantic. Every year I dip myself in, I\u2019m sick by the end of the trip. I can\u2019t wait to be home, safe, and comfortable. Really, really, next year, I am not coming back. There\u2019s no need to try to drown myself in the ocean this year; I\u2019m much too old for that. But so it goes, every summer I find myself coastal, and closer, and it is like a dam breaking when I give in. Twenty two hours in the back of my father\u2019s SUV (I hate riding with him) or a quick hop on a plane (I\u2019m an aviophobe) and I\u2019m there. Every summer I laugh and cry and drink strawberry milkshakes under the neon sign and ride my bike back half drunk. God, near the Atlantic I get so drunk; my tolerance is cut in half. There is something in the salty air; there\u2019s something in the fucking ice cream. Some nights, even still, we end up in the Atlantic under the moon. In a perfect world, me and my cousin, we\u2019d float on our backs and maybe share embarrassing stories or talk about boyfriends. In the real world, we tip toe as far as we can see until a wave crashes at ankle deep water and takes us out. We cry, and we almost drown. We talk about how we can barely stand it. We talk about how all of it may never be enough. And what we may do when that realization becomes a reality. But it\u2019s never been enough, me and her have covered that. I think by fourteen we covered that. We shared scar placements and calling boys until they begged us to stop and poetry books marked with blood. In our perfectly comfortable lives and our normal fathers, softball tournaments and high school friend groups, college grades and spaghetti dinners, we shared a black hole about as big as the Atlantic and even that couldn\u2019t fill it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Grace Ann Elinski<\/strong> is a graduate student, writer, and photographer from Jackson, Mississippi. Her work has been featured in <em>The Southern Quill<\/em>, <em>PRODUCT Magazine<\/em>, <em>Across the Margin<\/em>, and <em>Reckon Review<\/em>. She has work forthcoming in <em>Cicadian Rhythm<\/em>, a new Mississippi Poetry Zine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>__________<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"438\" height=\"211\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/boudin-logo-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/boudin-logo-1.jpg 438w, https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/boudin-logo-1-300x145.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 438px) 100vw, 438px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size\">\ud83e\udca0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/one-long-sunday-afternoon-of-oblivion\/\">Back<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">To learn more about submitting your work to <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/boudin-submissions\/\">Boudin<\/a><\/em> or applying to McNeese State University&#8217;s Creative Writing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/mfa-application-submissions\/\">MFA program<\/a>, please visit Submissions for details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Atlantic Grace Ann Elinski __________ I&#8217;ve tried to drown myself in the Atlantic a plethora of times. I say drown lightly. Once or twice on purpose, the number blurred by the waves and liquor, other times just so drunk that maybe I might have drowned. Obviously, every time, I didn\u2019t. Every time me and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[234],"tags":[75,173,235,100],"class_list":["post-20261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-retro-summer","tag-boudin","tag-cnf-2","tag-creativenonfiction","tag-flashfiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20261"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20620,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20261\/revisions\/20620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}