By Jim Woessner With great difficulty an old man climbs a creek bank carrying a large stone that looks as if it weighs twenty pounds. Although he walks slowly and bends at the waist, he appears relatively fit for someone in his eighties. His short white hair and stubby beard accentuate the deep lines in … Continue reading The Practice
Seeking the Color of the Shadows
By Chitra Gopalakrishnan I sit with old and young relatives in Coimbatore, in Tamil Nadu, in the south of India, in my aunt Radha’s home, or rather on her balmy thinnai, her long and wide red oxide porch, its polish alive and glistening at a level of perfection that can be achieved only by hundreds … Continue reading Seeking the Color of the Shadows
The Ambulance Chasers
By Kevin Hibshman Story 3: Lighting Strikes! Summer was prime time for my sister, our friend Brenda and I. We were the ambulance chasers, running after the sirens and flashing lights. When the town fire siren began booming, we'd run to the end of our street where we could watch the emergency equipment roll out. … Continue reading The Ambulance Chasers
The Dog Days of January
By Cat Sole It was the dog days of January, and she was dreaming of the beach. She lay in a pool of humidsweat on the single mattress, in the sunless room that was too small - and thought of blue skies, and sea-salt air, and blank sheets of paper.She thought of well-intentioned words of … Continue reading The Dog Days of January
For $2.00 She Was Mine
By Debra J. White Maxine died in 2001. I miss her terribly even now. I can still remember that dayin September 1988 when I was a social worker in a crime ridden, gang infested and run-down Bronx neighborhood. I paid $2.00 to a crack dealer for a skinny, flea infested straydog. Since then, I’ve rescued … Continue reading For $2.00 She Was Mine
The Last Stop
By Angela Johnson When Alma Leblanc looked out the window of the office building at the shadows beginning to fall across the downtown street, she knew that she was late. She had been so busy organizing and hanging the paintings that the bank had commissioned that she didn’t realize it was after 7 o’clock. She … Continue reading The Last Stop
Evocation
By Kathleen Glassburn Judith rips open an envelope from the county and pulls out a pink paper. It’s not a photographed traffic violation. She received one of those last year and paid a 240-dollar fine. It didn’t go on her record, but it’s made her even more careful. In all her forty-five years, this is … Continue reading Evocation
Ya Dara, Fly Tadorna
By Ruth Ticktin Most days before she went off to school, Dara was home alone with Matu, her grandmother. Matu was busy cooking for her husband and grandchildren, doing laundry, cleaning, mending clothes and sheets. Matu took Dara shopping with her, they walked to the market daily, and she made sure Dara was bathed, fed … Continue reading Ya Dara, Fly Tadorna
Raiden
By George Keyes 1 “There is no time, no day, just the existence of being in this neo-planet which it has become our home, Hitoshi. Ah, can we have the gift to restore ourselves again to the last glory?” He looked at his beloved dog Hitoshi, and remarkable enough, he nodded his head in a … Continue reading Raiden
Juancito
By George Keyes 1. Atlantic Ocean, the Sea Huge, deep, excommunicated. Sometimes it gives us that fear where all guts of our body appear to squeeze out with that profound tradition of fishermen and the mysteries that created to itself the truth of the unknown. Somewhere in the sea, Juanito, a 12-year-old Cuban boy, who … Continue reading Juancito
Academy of the Heart And Mind 