by Jenel Alan “The Roller Coaster at the End of the World” placed fourth in Southern New Hampshire University’s 2024 Fall Fiction Contest. I have PhDs in three fields, including biochemistry, so I know the correct dosage to put in his apple juice. To get him away from his parents,…
by Megan Okonsky “The Five Stages of Grieving My Attention Span” placed fifth in Southern New Hampshire University’s 2024 Fall Fiction Contest. (Bloop.) Denial I blinked at the first bloop. Then I went back to my book. I scheduled one hour of peace at the coffee shop before going back…
by Andrea Roylance A cold lake filled with wilted leaves, ash, and broken branches from a toxic tree sits at the edge of my consciousness. The lake’s waters are as still as death. Although the surface mirrors a pretty scene, the depths are murky with ghosts of the past, and…
by Leonora Ross Winter can take its time here in the mountains. Last year, we had snow in June, and summer felt like an advertisement for an island vacation on the cover of a shiny brochure you wished you could but didn’t have money to go on. But when the…
by William Heath Beware the strange attractorthat bubbles in the pot,makes the smoke curl upfrom the butt in the ashtray.Have you wondered whythe weatherman so often getsit wrong, or the healthy heartbreaks into wild fibrillations? Chaos is a far cry frommere randomness. High above our headsa tempestuous ballerinaperforms upon a tightrope,she…
by Moriah Canida The window in my room is special. Not as in a stained glass or creative design kind of way, but a truly magical way. The things I see through it don’t always make sense, but the scenes are always vivid and clear, as if it’s really happening….
by Jasmine Janelle Royer She walks with her head suspended in tree canopies, never casting her eyes below the silver lining of the existence her God displays for her as shewakes to meet the sun, come morning.She is a brown angel glowing from within the deep base of a body sighing from strengthwhen…
by Ann Boaden It always began in brightness. He was home again, and a boy, and he and Amanda were in Narrow Lane, behind the house. The sea singing a long way off, like a sea in a shell. Mandy’s hand in his. Just the two of them, the beautiful…
by William Heath After the game there is alwaysa soc hop in the gym: we dancethe stroll, the funky slop, the jitterbug,the bunny-hop, and still find time to twist and shout. Bill Halley, a kisscurl on his forehead, starts us allrocking around the clock, girls wettheir pants screaming at a…
by Lee Patton “Annalise! Dinner’s getting cold!” her mother’s voice shot upstairs, breaking through the faint, droning hum of the lamp nearby. Unresponsive, Annalise sat motionless, comatose, in front of the easel, her blank stare rivaled only by the canvas languishing in front of her. Her dark green eyes glazed…