The ruins of my garden had been visible from the deck for some time, but I had not yet ventured outside. It was time to get out there and acknowledge the ravages of time and neglect, weep, and get to work, as my grandma used to say, to formulate a rebuilding plan. The flower and […]
Read More Bloom by Bloom, Step by Step – by Doris von Tettenbornit has pretty yellow flowers, but is armed
with three-inch thorns—you bleed
Eleven voice messages. The first three are garbled, vicious insults interspersed with begrudging apology and admissions of profound, earth-shattering love. Nathan’s voice cracks, wounded.
Read More Razor Blades Sheathed in Velvet – by Zelda C. ThorneShe looks beyond the fire to the flat surface of the lake. There is little in the way of moon and stars tonight, but lights from the lodge on the opposite shore glimmer on the water’s skin. In her eyes, the dancing amber flames ripple.
Read More Split – by Jay McKenzie“We saw you look,” the girls’ voices echo in my head as I run out of school, all the way home, panting and crying by the time I reach the front door and, “Boys don’t go to dances with fat girls,” my dad tells me.
Read More The Weight of My Own Voice – by Finnian BurnettListening to Morgan playing through her pieces, I began to feel that familiar jealousy creepy into my stomach.
Read More Don’t Be A Beethoven – by Allie GuildersonWhen I was fourteen—no, thirteen (gee, maybe even earlier?), the chronic pain began.
Read More Upstream – by Ramona Eloise