Spotlight

By D. Trunick Eyes wide, legs quivering, sweat glistening, she feels ready to heave. The thick dusty red curtain brushes against her hands but provides no relief. “Why can’t I do this?” rolls from her dry parched lips. Panic and desperation enter her heart like a flash flood. She longingly watches from the side. Her conflicted soul jolts alive with the increasing brilliance of the lights above. Never stepping into view, her shadow begins to spin and sway to the music. Behind the curtain she Read more [...]

She…

By Sara Shah And so She was created from the dust, She who was Beauty, Compassion, and Love. The Creator placed her under the foliage of the dark forest, with an abundance of berries and seeds. She lived, alone. The Creator viewed her solitary state with sadness and sent beasts of the forest to accompany her. The beasts, although friendly, were not the proper companions to such a creature as She. However, the Creator quickly formed a new thought. The Creator impelled She’s eyes to close, and Read more [...]

When the Screen Goes Blank

by Pavelle Wesser I enter the elevator, watching the blinking red lights as I descend to lower level number nine, where I exit to face my interviewer. His gaze is so fathomless it fills me with a coldness that is absolute in its sense of... “Zero,” he informs me, “is the sum total of your life, yet I believe that everyone has the right to calculate his or her own loss.” He points me toward a cubicle, empty but for a desk, chair and adding machine. I sit and begin tapping out senseless Read more [...]

Cookie Purse

by Gina Douglas   My maternal grandmother and my father both told related stories about me when I was a child first learning to talk.  I don't think my Baba and my dad ever heard the other one's story, nor did they ever put their stories together into the real story. My ol' man used to proudly tell about the first two-word combination I put together.  He thought it was real clever.  We were in the grocery store, I was seated in the buggy.  I pointed at what I wanted and said the Read more [...]

Post Apocalyptic Limbo

by Jake DeHaai   His bright blue eyes provided the only color to the barren wasteland. The deep creases around his mouth told tales of violence, love, and loss. He walked across the decrepit highway, the realization had set in, he was alone.  He was isolated. His past had hardened him, taught him to show no emotion. Yet his internal sadness had broken out of his hardened shell and was plastered on his face permanently.  The emptiness of this land constantly reminded him that everyone Read more [...]