When I purchased the old Shepard Place—one hundred sixty acres in northern Nebraska—I felt as if I’d stepped back in time. In 1925, Old Man Shepard ordered a house kit from the Sears & Roebuck catalog. It came by rail, arriving at the depot in town, about twenty-five miles away. Mr. Shepard and his brother … Continue reading 13 Days of Halloween: Mannequins in the Hobbit Barn by S.G. Benson
Census
By JK Miller Birth: I was born with buttocks intact, thank God, in Ann Arbor, the same place my grandfather once, in the amphitheater of the medical school, showing off his speed in delivering a baby by cesarean, sliced the baby's buttocks with his scalpel. Race: What am I? My grandparents on my mother's side … Continue reading Census
My sport
By Reina Kita “Do you miss it?” my friend asks, as we run past the tennis courts at my local middle school. “No, not really”, I answer between breaths. For the past year, it has become my hobby to run to this school and do laps around the track. Running gives me an escape from … Continue reading My sport
It’s Only Temporary
By Chloe Bortnick 20 June 2025 I expected my senior year to be filled with lasts. My last school dances, the last school break, the last day of class, and eventually the last day in my hometown. What no one could have prepared me for was the development of something brand new: a friendship that, … Continue reading It’s Only Temporary
Sun Tzu and Entertainment: Koihime Musō’s Mountain Debacle
By Andrew Nickerson In the annals of military tactics and strategy, there have been many great names who’ve put their philosophies/views on paper for future generations. However, none have had as great an impact or as long-lasting an influence as Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, a 2,000+ year old treatise that’s still … Continue reading Sun Tzu and Entertainment: Koihime Musō’s Mountain Debacle
Weathered Baseballs
By Frank Petrignani During lunch I like to leave the office behind and go walking around the baseball field about a mile down the road. I started doing this at a time in my life where I was so stressed I could barely sit still. Somehow, walking that field and finding baseballs brought me a … Continue reading Weathered Baseballs
August Summer Competition Nonfiction Winner: “The Heron” by C. Jane Swick
“No one should take a sunset for granted,” Mike says as we walk to the beach in our slickers. It’s starting to drizzle as the sun casts a golden glow over lengthening shadows. When we reach the ocean, it is boiling in a vast frothy soup rolling and stumbling upon itself in great white crests. … Continue reading August Summer Competition Nonfiction Winner: “The Heron” by C. Jane Swick
Money Talks But Not To Me
By Debra J. White Money doesn’t grow on trees, nor is it in my bank account. I’m in my twilight years, recently turned seventy. I’ll probably die without a hefty stock portfolio, or wads of cash stashed underneath my bed. Just as well. I can’t take it with me beyond. Then again, no one else … Continue reading Money Talks But Not To Me
Hardwired
By Jill Sisson There were a lot of them, a small crowd of pronghorns, shining like bits of lightning on the sagebrush hills just outside the small town of Worland, Wyoming. I was part of a three-person crew of field biologists, all of us in our mid-20s, crammed in a government rig to inventory and … Continue reading Hardwired
That Smile
By Ahming Zee The fairest day in hapless mortal’s life Is ever first to flee. --Virgil, Georgics I got laid off last summer – the act of Murphy’s Law that is said to occur at least once in a lifetime – it occurred right after I had booked my trip to Beijing to visit my … Continue reading That Smile
Academy of the Heart And Mind 