The night beforedancing with the darkdry ice smokeand heartbeat musicflashing lightsa haze of alcoholand drugsThe morning aftera car barely stopsat the cornerhis vampire make upsmudged and sadstruggling to get homebefore dawnsafe for another year Laura Dennis is inspired by people, moments and sunrises. She has been published in various anthologies and online.
13 Days of Halloween: The Language Between by Carrie Farrar
I. Ursula, Who Heard Me DifferentlyYou didn’t flinch when I spoke in patternfingers drumming the table’s edge,the air shimmering between syllables.You heard the meaning inside the rhythm,not the mess of words around it.Your gaze was a small cathedralwhere my noise found room to breathe.Even silence widened for us,its wings brushing the walls of your patience.You … Continue reading 13 Days of Halloween: The Language Between by Carrie Farrar
13 Days of Halloween: Thrice in One Sitting by Justin Alcala
“One witch can do more harm than a thousand common thieves,” Silas Fear-The-Lord Doddridge recited along the road to Pontybridge village. It was a dreadful afternoon in New England, but three facts rolled Silas out of his inn’s bed on this wet autumn day. First, as the Malleus Maleficarum stated, Those who deny the reality … Continue reading 13 Days of Halloween: Thrice in One Sitting by Justin Alcala
13 Days of Halloween: HiLee Frankenstein by Dylan Jack James
“HiLee Frankenstein” was previously published in Legacy Magazine under the title “What Scares You?” I was four years old when my father and mother first took me trick or treating down our little village street. It was a crisp cool Halloween night and the smell of cherry wood hung in the air from the only … Continue reading 13 Days of Halloween: HiLee Frankenstein by Dylan Jack James
A Huntress Who Locks in
By Douglas J. Lanzo Flashing ambered orange, her eyespierce tall savannah grass,spotting shadows of horned beastsgrazing contentedly under mattedshade of acacia trees,as she tracks on padded pawsthrough yellow-seeded grass.Downwind of the herdthe undetected hunterflexes her spine and accelerates, pulsing with each clawed bound gripping sun-scorched earthas she powers quickening strides,turning in tight arc toward the … Continue reading A Huntress Who Locks in
The Gravity of Human Hands
By Mohit Saini \We are the species that names the stars,then counts their worth in coin and scars.We build our homes with borrowed stone,and call the dust beneath us "own."The same hand carving sacred artwill sign the orders, tear apart.The voice that rocks a child to sleepwill chant for war when passions leap.Yet in the … Continue reading The Gravity of Human Hands
Turnips in Southern Tennessee Still
By Michael Lee Johnson The full moon illuminates a dense coniferous forest and a path winding between the trunks of tall pines. The moonlight is divided into rays, covered by the tops of pine trees In Tennessee, the shadows of the southernwooden structures stalled off the narrowhighway and came to an abrupt end.Lost in the … Continue reading Turnips in Southern Tennessee Still
The Billings Ransom
By Dalton Henderson “CRACK” “Don’t take ONE step closer!” The bullet sliced through the air above his head, a sound that had unfortunately become familiar. Luke Hendry ducked behind a wagon and rotated the cylinder of his revolver, half as a nervous assurance and half out of habit. “Name’s Luke Hendry—Sheriff of Kirwin. You know … Continue reading The Billings Ransom
Growing Pains
By Adn Mudassir Towards the end of my sophomore year of high school, my mother suggested I apply as a teaching assistant at the preschool where she worked. At first, I was unsure. My job hunt had started out of a desire to acquire some financial independence, and with it an opportunity for self-growth outside … Continue reading Growing Pains
B*I*N*G*O*
By P.S. Nolf The G67 ball flees down the aisle, Bouncing off legs of tables and chairs and humans.Chased by hordes of tripping and skipping and flippingTigers, tuxedos, Siamese, and shorthairs. The kittens have gone to war.Too young to jump, humans help the littles to table tops. There they discover the best toys.Skittles likes to … Continue reading B*I*N*G*O*
Academy of the Heart And Mind 