Archived: Last Dance by Nickie Medina

I remember the Animals knocking out the bluesy number “House of the Rising Sun.” I danced my last high school sock hop in our gymnasium just before graduation the next morning. My high school sweetheart and I circled the dance floor, totally unaware of what this night really meant. I would say good-bye to many…

Archived: Linger by Tony Park

  The moon whitened the tallest tree, as the north wind bathed it in a sweet chill, whispering, “Weave just a short time like the mortals do.”

Archived: Mr. Magpie by Tony Park

I certainly understand the exaltation of larks, but what about the pitched past pitched panegyric of magpies? Oh such a scurrilous chorus of well served scorn aimed at the world around them.   And I can tell you it’s not a dark drop of devil’s blood under their tongue, but a blue map to the…

Archived: Henry 2: The Squeakquel by Stephen Lehman

Henry Herbert Hildebrand had no idea what he was in for when he woke up on that clear Monday morning. He was aware of the dinosaur sleeping next to him, so conveniently given to him by the President of the United States mere days ago. He was aware of his surroundings; his giant deep sea…

Archived: Henry: Now in 3-D! by Stephen Lehman

  Henry Herbert Hildebrandt woke up and looked upon the world for the first time on a clear January morning, a Monday specifically, if you’re so inclined to know. His first gasp of air was taken into his lungs and immediately he felt more alive than he had ever felt before. Perhaps this was because…

Archived: Apprentice by Cate Formica

Blaine propped his feet up on the coffee table and stuck a fork in his microwave dinner. It was Friday night, which usually consisted of TV, a few beers, and falling asleep on the couch in his underwear. The night progressed like many others. In the wee hours of the morning, Blaine woke to the…

Archived: Excerpt from Kinship by Elizabeth Ellis

It was a beautiful day. The sky was a brilliant blue that melded into the deep ocean waters in the clear horizon. I was helping Mom get the dinner we had just caught ready to eat. It was a fish with a long pointy nose. A swordfish, she called it. I had never seen a…

Archived: Contrasts in a Hutterite World by Audrey Nelson

  Bumping along the remote gravel road to the Rockport Hutterite colony gives me a chance to consider my expectations. I have none. Still, I try to clear my head of any preconceived notions and set aside my ideas of “normal” culture. We crest a hill, my husband and I, and below us, in a…

Archived: Seymour! by Gracie Marquez

    I graduated from Aims back in 1989 in the Graphic Departments and one of my teachers that is still teaching at AIMS is the wonderful Mrs. Lori Ford. I have two daughters currently attending Aims, one whom will be transferring to UNC this fall. I’ve always mentioned to my children what a wonderful…

Archived: Ridge by Gracie Marquez

    I graduated from Aims back in 1989 in the Graphic Departments and one of my teachers that is still teaching at AIMS is the wonderful Mrs. Lori Ford. I have two daughters currently attending Aims, one whom will be transferring to UNC this fall. I’ve always mentioned to my children what a wonderful…

Archived: Another Night by Gracie Marquez

    I graduated from Aims back in 1989 in the Graphic Departments and one of my teachers that is still teaching at AIMS is the wonderful Mrs. Lori Ford. I have two daughters currently attending Aims, one whom will be transferring to UNC this fall. I’ve always mentioned to my children what a wonderful…

Archived: Field of Green by Gracie Marquez

    Bio: I graduated from Aims back in 1989 in the Graphic Departments and one of my teachers that is still teaching at AIMS is the wonderful Mrs. Lori Ford. I have two daughters currently attending Aims, one whom will be transferring to UNC this fall. I’ve always mentioned to my children what a…

Archived: The Power of Love by Jamie Marteney

  I am 19, I am a first year student at Aims Community College. Until my senior year in high school I never really enjoyed or was good at painting. I always felt it was so cut and dry, like this is the way you paint and thats it; that everything had to be perfect….

Archived: Merely Lies by Loren McAllister

“I barely even know the woman! How would I know where she is?” I never thought in a million years I would be sitting in an interrogation room. Surprisingly, it looked exactly like those rooms you see on Criminal Minds. It was musky and dark with grey walls, one long white table, and an extremely…

Archived: Dog Heaven by Daniel Morgenegg

Recently, I ran into some good fortune. Actually, I should say it ran into us. Jake, my dog, gets to come along for the ride. I spend these days roaming the forest with Jake, walking the trails I loved when I was a younger man, and dog was only a pup. Back then, I made…

Archived: Adrenaline by Hannah Taskila

  May 16, 2013: Dark brown coffee fills my tumbler to the rim and today is the day I graduate; four miserable years of high school will be coming to an end. Getting ready for the day ahead I start to suffer from some nostalgia of the last four years. Yes, things were miserable after…

Archived: Creating Fear by Stephen Tillotson

A tall man passed looking as if flowing over the battlefield. The commanding air he had would have driven the eyes of everyone looking to himself, but all that lay before the man was death. His face was solemn beneath his long whitening beard. His eyes were deep with sorrow, as if the weight of…

Archived: The Impact of One Lone Sandhill Crane by Lisa Barnes

  The only sounds I heard were crunching twigs under feet and an occasional grunt as someone tripped over a rock. I was hiking with a diverse group of individuals, all of us hoping to complete our Open Lands Naturalist Volunteer training. Secretly, I thought the “moonlit hike” would be the easiest hike to fulfill…

Archived: Humility Was Not My Best Quality by Cate Formica

  In high school, I thought I was good at everything. I was a straight A, honors, AP student, I was on the dance team, I was in all the musicals, I had run for student council, I was in 3 choirs, and I excelled in the school’s photography program. To further prove my “excellence”,…

Archived: The Power of a Pint-Sized Purse by Alexandra Dyer

  As a small child, I loved to carry around a tiny, black purse filled to the point that it is a wonder it never burst at the seams.  I stuffed the purse with a flashlight, mini tape measure, pen, notepad, something to chew on, and my favorite trinket, a porcelain angel that I had…

Archived: Russell’s Fancy Feast by Michael Romanowski

  I have always said that “Taco Bell tastes like cat food” until my good friend Russell proved to me that this was not the case. When I was a middle schooler, I was a part of the weird group. We were the nerdy, socially-awkward kids that did not know how to act in public….

Archived: Dexter by Gustavo Reyes

I wished to be called Dexter. A child strived to become the pinnacle of mental excellence. His peers requested for his help as those same peers challenged and questioned his aptitude. “You cheated!” No I didn’t; it was a speed test of 100 problems. “You’re not THAT smart. I bet I can beat you.” If…