By Michael Barrington After ten years as a busy religious missionary priest in Africa, I was driven by an internal compulsion to spend some time in silence, prayer, and solitude. I had spent three of those years in Nigeria, witness to unspeakable horrors and atrocities during its civil war. Delivering aid was a matter of … Continue reading My Time As A Hermit
This Time Around
By Caitlin Buhr My best friend is pregnant with her second child. Her first child was born 15 years ago, when we were juniors in high school. That day the summer before junior year that she told me the news, we were standing in my driveway. It was a rare day off from my babysitting … Continue reading This Time Around
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
Heritage
By Huma Farid My lineage is a black hole, adrift from the reality of my present. I stand alone, an alien amongst those who have casually, thoroughly laid claim to a land that could not be claimed. I wonder: what must it feel like for your ancestors’ memories to shape your history? What must it … Continue reading Heritage
Strangers on the Tram
By Mirela-Andreea Rotariu Trapped in the bronze, weathered gaze of the trumpeter with no body, I willed myself to take a few steps back, realizing I had been staring at the sculpture for too long. It was a rather abstract depiction. Mounted on a lusterless, white pedestal, the figure’s hands stood erect holding the trumpet, … Continue reading Strangers on the Tram
The Endless Day
By Penny Nolte The station is packed and no wonder. Our train is delayed because of the storm and no one knows when it will get through, that’s good news for us because otherwise we’d have missed it. The trip is my present, because I hate to fly. We are taking a sleeper car all … Continue reading The Endless Day
Inspire for Hire
By Alex Andy Phuong As a person transitioned from college to adulthood, conflict came about along with hints of doubt. After all, like after graduation is nothing like High School Musical. Without graduating summa cum laude, this individual had to learn many powerful life lessons that extend beyond academic settings. In fact, this person learned … Continue reading Inspire for Hire
Anton
By Oleg Daugovish On an island of Fyn, washed by two frigid seas, a town of Svendborg roots. A church by the harbor repels rain’s assault with an armor of red bricks and tile. Inside the gloomy cathedral, a scent of sandalwood coats the dark-haired crowd whispering in Tagalog. The Danish Catholic congregation relies on … Continue reading Anton
Academy of the Heart And Mind 