by Courtney Williams Carter Cast of Characters Pearl: mid-forties solid, strong physically and emotionally, the oldest sister of 3, and the leader of her family. Benjamin: Pearl’s husband, mild-mannered, supportive, loving, and a hard worker. Ginger: preteen girl, sullen, mischievous, intelligent, wears black and a Discman at all times. Jordan: three-year-old boy, active,…
by Sarah Odishoo I learned that day on the corner of Wabash and Madison on an overcast spring afternoon what I couldn’t have discovered in any other way. I can recall it every time I think of him, the el train’s whining cutting the air open behind our backs, the…
by Christian Linville It had been brewing for two days. Some news channels had warned about it, and others just mentioned a light sprinkling. But off the shoreline, out toward the water, you could see it coming for yourself if you looked hard enough—the clouds dark and the lighting flashing….
by Judith Ford It had started with the sparrows singing in the mock orange bush in her backyard. Anne loved to hear them calling out to the dawn when she’d first open her eyes in her bed, before the sun was all the way up, when there was a gray…
by Steve Force Carola awoke just as dawn was breaking. She could hear Cesar, her husband, on the other side of the curtain that separated the sleeping area from the rest of their one room home. He was moving about in the cooking area. She could smell the strong dark…
by Casey Dare the smooth bore, breech-loaded, single barrel shotgun bangs an answer to the whispered questions— why do they fight? why does mama cry? is he still hitting her? Why won’t someone help us? cold December night lit by lights on the evergreen trees, blues reds whites blinking…
by Stuart Gunter We’re putting the world into our bodies. Food becomes who you are. – Rene Redzepi Every bite, every morsel becomes us, Mount Ararat into our mouths, our mother’s family tree our breakfast. The time we hiked into the Grand Canyon, laid claim to the first wet kiss…
by Lisa Harris A square, a cross, and four directions place us in space and make us stable. We are fixed in a stillness that draws our energy in. Seeking a haven, we read signs and symbols silently. We want a house to hold us the way we hold each…