By Mikhail Gladkikh It was dark, dry, and scary in the long corridors leading to the Hall of Corina. The familiar smell of rotten eggs and some other unidentifiable substances filled the dusty air. Jutta visited this place within the Shrine of Hepe every day, yet each time she felt goosebumps on her skin and … Continue reading The Oracle
Zinc
By Jim Bates The head of Parks and Recreation, Fred Nicoletti, extended his hat. “Good luck, kid, he winked. “You’re going to need it.” Nothing like a little intimidation to add to my already jangling nerves. I was standing on the north beach of Lake Harriet, getting ready for my final test. I’d passed the … Continue reading Zinc
Reframing Walter
By Russell Richardson Tom felt true affection for his therapist Walter. Unlike confused parents, expectant girlfriends, and demanding employers, Walter accepted Tom unconditionally. For years, the silver-haired man had nodded sagely while Tom talked on the office’s leather couch. When Tom’s ramblings developed into a meaningful thought, Walter expressed satisfaction; when the babble went nowhere, … Continue reading Reframing Walter
The Pillow Top Bed and Pop’s Pillow Top Bed
By Eva Marie Ann Cagley The Pillow Top Bed During the first week while my late husband Bob lay in a hospital bed in the ICU at the University Hospital in Iowa City, we were camped out on coaches in a cubical that we had taken over for the family and ourselves. My brother had … Continue reading The Pillow Top Bed and Pop’s Pillow Top Bed
On Grandma’s Knee
By Steve Carr When I was just a small boy and sitting on my grandmother’s knee, she told me this story so often of when she was a young girl, that I sometimes forget it was an incident in her life, and not mine. Grandma was born on a farm in upstate New York in … Continue reading On Grandma’s Knee
I Will Write Peace on Your Wings and You Will Fly
By George Rosas The men watch the horizon of the plains of nothingness to the northeast and trample through the dry clots of dirt that crumble beneath their cracked feet as if hiding fragile fossils in the deep that witness the birth and the death of day. The men walk with the protruding peaks of … Continue reading I Will Write Peace on Your Wings and You Will Fly
Not So Humble Pie
By Tim Law Author's Note: Piece was originally titled "The Shadow" Looking out at the many faced crowd that had filed in to fill the available seating, Eric Flute, manager of the Redfield Library and Culture Center dabbed at his shiny forehead and tried to control his nerves. Eric always found that there was a … Continue reading Not So Humble Pie
Paramnesia
By Bethany Walker I. jamais vu Tristan buttoned his wool coat against the rainy London chill, his blonde hair rustling in the wind. He no longer recognized the familiar streets of his childhood, the families that had once occupied the Marylebone flats near where he grew up had long since moved on, and young business … Continue reading Paramnesia
Good Job
By Abe Margel It was the kind of hot and humid day in June that made Toronto feel like Miami. On the scorching sidewalk women in summer dresses and men in uncomfortable suits shuffled through a pair of wide wooden doors leading into the convocation hall. Inside the air-conditioned building a happy crowd was assembling. … Continue reading Good Job
The Happy Wanderer
By Bruce Costello The sky is vast, the stars numinous, the moon low. The trees, asleep, are listening through their leaves though they make neither movement, nor sound. Fields, bathed in silver, stretch to dark hills with here and there a glint of creek or pond. The first ray of the sun travels through my … Continue reading The Happy Wanderer
Academy of the Heart And Mind 