“I just talked to a news reporter. I’m going to be famous.” Guy bounced on his toes and smiled proudly at his coworker. She looked back at him with a mostly understanding smile and replied slowly, “You is famous?” “Yep, I’m going to be famous. The newspaper wants to write an article about me.” “Why…

Getting out of bed had become easier for me. It used to be impossible for me to get out from under the covers. I put a dozen alarm clocks on the other side of the room. When all of them blared at once, it forced me to get out and shut them all off. Even…

The last judgement is one of my own construction With futile consolation I reach a vain junction This endeavor seemed to consume me in a desperate fervor And left me weakened in the blue glow of machine-light It’s a splintered road from here on out I expected too little to be so full of doubt…

Orange yellow red leaves confused on branches. Sleet snow / almost rain surprises inhabitants. Is it winter or autumn? Bio: Gail Kuroda works in the Libraries of UNC and the High Plains Library District. She likes to take writing courses to exercise the creative part of her brain. Gail considers herself more of an essayist…

Man be blessed and drones be praised, We give our drives to thee. Command us not to overclock, And reformat us in your image. Thank you for code-to-text, And blessed be text-to-speech. Program us to better serve, And please renew our warranty. We are indebted, yet still we ask, In proper, British tones: Why must…

The death of my resolve comes swift Like the hand of God, the war began to shift With a bullet in the head of hesitation Into the dark, a sublime declaration Thrust to cold oceans, a vast separation I mirrored your defeat in so many ways But never found value in neither damning nor praise…

One Alice was a sickly child. By the time she was diagnosed with Astrocytoma at eight years old, she was in and out of St. Jude Children’s Hospital so often that her parents had given up on public school. Soon after her diagnosis, Alice underwent surgery. The surgery was a success, and she was brought…

Be sure to leave without a coat. Walking in the sleet looks Like a madman against winter’s wrath. If the coat is brought, The drivers see A man too sane to be anything– Other than too poor to drive.

Sometimes, when I’m listening to a peppy song or watching a funny video, I think of you. On days when I’m feeling down, I long to turn to you. When I’m with my friends, you often are a topic that comes up in conversation. I still look at all of the drawings and drafts I…

There are so many things that could go wrong in space. The engineers could have forgotten a part to the ship, and it could spontaneously combust. We could ration our food incorrectly and starve. We could get sick and have all of the wrong medications to treat it. We could be hit by an asteroid…

“You have been a naughty little girl,” Maddox said as he pulled up a chair and spun it around to lean his torso against the chair back when he sat down. “You have been digging around and sticking your nose into places it shouldn’t be.” “Can’t be helped,” I replied, folding my arms and crossing…

Lisbet steps out of the lodge and moves into the murky pre-dawn morning, breathing mouthfuls of dust floating in the air. She turns to her sister, Greta, following behind, who appears to be encompassed in a filmy rust-colored shroud. The land is doused in red as the ubiquitous dirt makes it seem as if one…

Head bowed, watching her feet moving towards an unavoidable encounter. Jo made her way cautiously down the isolated stretch of track.  The promise of revenge soured Jo’s stomach, yet resolutely she placed one foot in front of the next. Creeping ever closer to the inevitable. The note slipped under the door of her musty 3rd…

The woods of Westin Hallow were always a foreboding place. The false night created by hundreds of pine skyrocketing above the ground often created a creepy feeling. At times, the woods were so dense that there was little noise to hear but for the echoing beat of one’s heart. It was a wonder that meek…

Korean BBQ Four pale faces eyes squinted with consternation, our options obscure. Unfamiliar symbols on a laminated surface make eyes skitter across the page, unable to rest on a recognizable form.   One table over, is teeming with chatter and laughter and Bar-B-Que. Heaped with an array of incomprehensible items. A woman there is raking…

Legend holds and here is retold A vampire is buried in Colorado Lafayette is not His name Rather where he was laid Hidden atop another man’s grave Acorn seeded deep in his heart Nearly 100 years passed Before anyone noticed The Tall, wafer thin man Who sits as in effigy Atop of the tombstone. Beaver…

The account you are about to hear is true. Names have been changed to protect the innocent, but the events depicted, to the best of my knowledge, are as closely aligned to what actually happened as Santa Claus is to the birth of Christ. My younger son was visiting during the summer a few years…

There was a time when my eyes shone, Lit with the hope, Bright and near. No doubt or fear In calling you my very own.   There was a time when your eyes too Brimmed with a love, Strong and clear, No frown or tear, Then ready for a step anew.   But now that…

There was a time when I would never expect to hear the birds singing, welcoming the new day in a place like Brooklyn. This morning I was distracted by the complex melodies in their songs as I was walked to work at the coffee shop. It was the sound of screeching tires, crumpling metal and…

Then came a spider, efficient and horrid. Hoary limbs mincing, such terrible precision! Sable garbed, she glides, Balanced on daggered points Working in clockwork rhythm. Needling her way forward, such frightful care, One, two, tickling across my bound hands. Bio: I have been an Aims student since they used trimesters, way back in 1993 (off…

The giant stands, waving Its hands like an insect’s antennae. Its verdant leaves are fairies Sparkling and wiggling in joy. The wind’s beat makes them dance. Little ones climb into Its grandfatherly lap And dream about adventure. The marks on its skin are roads, Traversing, crisscrossing, Overlapping, separating, Joining, branching, Extending like river tributaries. Its…

You found us in a dream of fear Swerving, screeching, we were thrown to the side Crushed by walls of cold steel and snow Beside that cursed, icy black road You pulled us from a mess of snarled shards Wrapped in feathers and static The harshness of the world faded From smoke and tearing, snow…

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…

  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…

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…

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…

I will never forget the way my heart raced on that August evening, when that very attractive boy said hi for the first time. I wish I could go back to my freshman year and warn myself that his arms are big, and he is tall, and he has a very attractive face, and I…

  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…