By Michael Barrington As a shy fifteen-year-old schoolboy, I was often the unfortunate victim of having to stand before the class and read my short stories out loud. At that time I was living in a boys only boarding school in the Lake District- not the fun loving Hogwart’s School of Harry Potter- where the … Continue reading Writers I Have Known
No Different Than a Frog
By Christine Benton Criswell Originally published in Jimson Weeds. Has also appeared in Down in the Dirt and Impspired In front of me were two heavy, ancient-looking, wooden doors, and beyond them—the thing I dreaded most about becoming a doctor. My heart was pounding so hard I could hardly hear the voices around me. I’d … Continue reading No Different Than a Frog
The Landing Day
By J. P. Rizo Richard Cadmen, professor of Holistoric Reconstruction, Third Year, guided his class through the sandy trail leading to the beach. Now and then he had to stop, annoyed, to reprehend the lingerers who were picking little shell pieces. “Focus, gentlemen. We are not on a beach day with grandma. Henry, where the … Continue reading The Landing Day
Writers Block
By Pat Spencer As a life-long author of both fiction and nonfiction, I would never admit to suffering from writer’s block. But it’s fair to say I’m stymied. It’s not that my words are cumbersome or clumsy, falling short of what my story deserves. It is that I simply have no words. I sit so … Continue reading Writers Block
I Remember You
By Gretchen Keefer Officer Hayes watched the young man as Officer Krall relayed the news. He was just a kid, really, this boy who had so confidently invited the officers in out of the August heat and admitted there was no one else at home. Hayes saw disbelief, comprehension and grief cross the youth’s face … Continue reading I Remember You
Reflection
By Adam Ostaszewski The gentle hum of turbines lulled the passengers of the CW-48 space lift to sleep. One of them, Robert Smart, struggled with fatigue. He spent the first part of the journey to the Finesia space station studying the report prepared by the investigators. Torn from his comfortable bed at half past five, … Continue reading Reflection
The Last Day I Saw Mother
By Chinelo Synclaire The journey home felt insufferably long. I sat by the window inside the bus examining the landscape and the buildings, trying hard to suppress my anger each time the driver stopped to pick a new passenger. My school bag sat huddled between my legs and inside it was the A4 paper that … Continue reading The Last Day I Saw Mother
Table Talk
By Ed Walsh It was after his wife was killed that my father's brother visited us. I was thirteen at the time and from what I understood she was driving their car when she came off a straight stretch of road out in the sticks and hit a telegraph pole. There was nobody else in … Continue reading Table Talk
Dead Poets Society: An Epilogue Interpretation
By Andrew Nickerson Following the termination of John Keating, his alma mater continued to be rocked by the scandalous death of Neil Perry, as well as the rampant accusations of his dad. It took the better part of a year for the anguish to cool, but there was no question the lives of those involved … Continue reading Dead Poets Society: An Epilogue Interpretation
The Encounter
By Richard Edde The sun on my face was warm, gentle and the fall colors of the aspen trees and willows spectacular. I was fishing the Upper Gallatin River just outside Yellowstone Park when I rounded a bend and saw her. She had pulled a nice rainbow from a dark pool and he was doing extraordinary acrobatic … Continue reading The Encounter
Academy of the Heart And Mind 