Content Warning: This short story includes depictions of violence and stalking behavior from the point of view of the stalker. The sweetly surrounding sounds of the violin encompass me. Her rendition of Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 is breathtaking. It’s the first song I ever heard her play all those weeks ago. Her finger work throws…
Tag: Student
Works submitted by Aims students
A Pirate’s Life for Me by Marceline Skalickey
The Bookstore was as bright as I imagined Olympus to be. Four long aisles of tall bookshelves encased the store like the comforting walls of a childhood bedroom. I personally love fantasy series. Being able to escape the world for hours on end… It’s divine. The owner of the shop, Madeline, a little redhead with…
Comfort Food by Reese Weilnau
Usually when I come in, the seats are always filled and people are always eating, but tonight was surprisingly dead. I looked through the glass doors and saw that the host was even bored; he was talking to one of the servers who I could only imagine had equally little to do. I entered the…
Pregnancy Truth by Jasmine Davis
I had always heard that pregnancy was such a beautiful and amazing thing to experience. That women’s bodies were meant to create a baby. That your baby bump would be cute, and having cravings is fun. Being pregnant is full of happiness and joy. It all was a lie. For me, at least. I got…
Dark Links by Tiffany Plumlee
RUN! FASTER! HE’S COMING! Her brain kept shouting at her as she ran through the pitch blackness of night, frigid air biting at her skin, sharp jagged rocks slicing into her bare feet. Branches she couldn’t see whipping her in the face, arms and legs, stinging her skin. The horrid stench of death and decay…
Realm Hoppers by Kora Campbell
Bum-bump. Bum-bump. Doran’s heart raced in his chest as he looked around. The dimly lit streets were packed full of people wandering through the small, dark market. A light rain stretched the few colorful lights above and soaked the world below. The thin, gray cloak he had stolen off a vendor stuck to his arms….
The Dove by Joshua Gottlieb
The sun is shining in your eyes. It is bright and warm. Bright and warm are good. Bright and warm are safe. You look around; the stone boulders stand tall and beautiful. The wind brushes gently past you. It is an abnormal wind; it usually does not go west to east but, other than that…
From the Mountaintop by Audrey Reynolds
So, it turns out that there’s a lot we don’t know about life. Sure, there’s all the old manuscripts, legends and stories, but what do we really know? I’m not challenging history. What has happened has happened. But, I just wish I could go back in time sometimes. See things in their former glory. I…
The King’s Haunting by Judah Godsey
An inky blackness filled the air. Huddled shadows lined the walls. The only light that dared challenge the reign of darkness dwindled within the fireplace. A bent figure paced the room, his hands shaking from an unseen chill. His silk robe’s fiery glint claimed him to be royal, and yet the paleness of his skin…
We Shall Never Fade by Marceline Skalicky
The metal gondola swings back and forth on the pendulum of life. What was once a stunning pastel green ride into the sky, is now a rusty-orange and black meteor craving the supple earth it sways toward. The ancient gondola comes down from the city in the clouds on a rare adventure to the world…
Email Etiquette by Sofia Montanez-Trujillo
Maggie didn’t think she had a problem. She was just a normal teenage girl who preferred things that were even, orderly, and divisible by two. It wasn’t odd. Just simply an appreciation for patterns. It wasn’t weird for her to be unable to sleep unless she did her nighttime routine twice. She was just thorough….
Internal Haunting by Tesia Munoz
Every morning, Lily woke up before the sun. The first thing she did was step outside and light a cigarette. Puffing and exhaling while staring at nothing, the smoke curled into the sky. Back inside, she opened an ice-cold Pepsi, her first taste of comfort. She sat in silence, mentally bracing herself for the weight…
It’s Just Bad Luck by Lindsey Schwartz
Angie glanced at her watch. Thirty minutes. Only thirty minutes? How was that possible? She resisted the urge to sigh aloud and took another sip of her wine. At least he chose a nice restaurant – white tablecloths, dim lighting, overpriced pasta. Sam was her typical type – clean shaven, good head of hair, cute,…
LAYOVER by Mason “Ace” Vargas
Georgie stuck the mints he purchased in his pocket and put the newspaper under his arm as he checked his wrist watch. But before he could even tell the time, the intercom blared throughout the airport with a friendly and generic jingle. “Stapleton international, the time is now 8:30, all boarding passengers please make your…
Visitation Gallery by Miguel Itzman
He was finishing buttoning his black shirt as his cousin knocked on the door with a question. “You ready, Ishmael?” “Yeah.” He paused and looked at his reflection. “Be right out.” Ishmael heard footsteps retreat. He looked again at the mirror and thought about how much he missed his hometown. He’d spent all these years…
Sobriety-Scene 2 by Dominic Kenyon
ACT 1 SCENE 2 SCENE – A dining room. A square wooden table sits in the middle of the stage. It has 4 plates set out. There are cups at 3 of the placemats. There are cupboards on the walls and a counter top on stage-right. The wall on stage-left has a shelf with an…
You Wanna Know What Happened Last Night by Emmery Bonnell
Well, there I was, settin’ down at my booth in the Blackbird Diner. I was workin’ on my burger- y’know, hold the onions, add some mushrooms and a side of onion rings- when allova sudden, I see my best buddy, Darlene, rollin’ up on a gen-you-ine 1936 Harley Davidson VLD- blue’n’cream. I grabbed one more…
Lost Package by Aaron Johnson
The conveyor belt rolled, bumping me around. Everything around me was a blur of moving boxes and flickering overhead lights, always in motion. But I wasn’t worried. Trucks and highways, all part of the process. No one here really knew where they were going or what their purpose was, but I’d say that uncertainty was…
The Curtain Man by John Quincy Thompson
Some nights, I can hear a sound. A faint sound emanating from the corner of my bedroom like the hushed breath of a shadow. At times, I swear I’ve spotted my curtains swaying to that same rhythm, the beating of breath. I’ll watch the corner very carefully, forgetting to blink, holding my own breath so…
The Pine Across The Street by Luke Toman
The tree was hideous, really. Its mossy body slumped wearily to one side. Frail branches reached outward, grasping ever-thinning clumps of pine needles. In the summer months I’d part my vinyl blinds and stare through the gap at the thing, wondering why my neighbor seemed to insist on keeping it in front of his house….
War: A Crucible for Men by Kelton Driskill
While sitting in the trench, he shoved his companion into the line of sight. Within a millisecond, the enemy implanted a deep, billowing hole through the head of Mathew, the man he signed up to fight with. The worst part was how trivial the argument had been. He purposely chewed his Wrigley’s gum obnoxiously until…
A Rendezvous with Yesterday’s Past (And Hair Loss) by Joshua Molina
At the hollowed heart of the mall, where ghosts of Kay Jewelers once gleamed, we found our common ground, on a couch by a fireplace that never truly streamed. I, the present, arrived in a My Chemical Romance tee, a faded, black banner high, clad in the trusty Converse, a Zero Sugar Monster clutched beneath…
Sunshine, Sands, and Existential Dread by Jasmine Henry
Clay Stone sits alone in an ocean of sand, the dry heat of the Californian sun beating harshly upon his exterior bakes him. The third quarter of the year is the worst for him, unable to move, Clay endures temperatures upwards of a hundred degrees, with the nights radiating at a constant 90. Clay was…
We All Wear Our Crowns by Jonathan Gonzalez Trejo
We played fútbol in this empty backyard that belonged once to a house where now jap arrowroot blanketed the body, Sara, Richie, Jaylen, and I. We’d play there every day, even at night to sneak out of the tedium we lived in. Richie would bring the big lamp from his chicken coop to light us…
The Joker by Alissa Booth
Looking in the mirror, I see me and laugh with glee Grabbing the can from under the sink, I paint what every person wants to see. I only imitate. Walking on sunshine, I hum to the sound of the bees with happiness flowing through me. I can’t believe this is reality….
Where Light Begins by Tarynn Douglas
I woke where dawn first learned to sing Beneath the vow the bright ones bring Their breath was warm; their pulse was mine A kingdom forged in fire divine No night remains just morning gleam The rising of every dream They crowned me gold, they crowned me clear And broke the chains I used to…
Shadowed Sun By Tarynn Douglas
Shadowed sun When I was small, the light would sting, It cut too deep, too bright a thing. It burned my name; it made me fade— So, I sought shade for what it made. Beneath the bed, behind the door, I felt the dark begin to pour. It wrapped me close, it hummed so low,…
The Veil Between by Tarynn Douglas
No light can live without its shade, no dark endures where hearts are made. Between them breathes the silent thread not lost, not gone, but changed instead. For fire and veil, for dusk and dawn, the war has slept; the world moves on. And in their peace, the truth is seen. We are the breath,…
FOR JOHN SHAW TORRINGTON, GLASS COFFIN & ALL. FIRST EXPIRED, FIRST EXHUMED. FOUND ON BEECHEY ISLAND AUGUST 1984. by Amelie/A.T Banks
ON THE DAY WE DUG HIM UP TWENTY YEARS OLD STILL SMELLING OF COAL JOHN COUGHED UP CUBED ICE & CHRYSANTHEMUMS INTO HIS CUPPED & COTTON-WRAPPED HANDS & WE HELPED HIM UP FROM HIS MEAT-LOCKER CRYPT & STANDING IN STRIPES THE BLUE & THE WHITE HE ASKED FOR A LIFT & A LIT CIGARETTE SO…
The Love That Once Was by Diana Montelongo
There were good days and bad days, nothing out of the ordinary. A girl who helps with the chores around the house. The same routines, the same dysfunctional and unexpected but yet predictable regular days. A day out and about, surprisingly not too ordinary. You met, oh boy, you met. Days started having a different…
The Calling by Audriana Gutierrez
Everything and nothing, all at once I feel it lingering and staring, an overwhelming calling If I turn around there’s no telling what will happen next So, I keep forward, foot after the other My mind hexed by aimless passion, one after the another I will follow If not, to drown into sorrow Words, memories,…
What We Once Were by Josh Lopez
I reminisce upon the first night I had you near me, drunk on wine, Intoxicated elation, the citrusy musk of your cologne The scent of your skin befuddling my being I linger upon secret seductive smiles and come hither Glances across the room, the indulgence of your kiss The embrace of your arms I wit-wander…
The Elegy of Us by Josh Lopez
And I, want to take the time to Acknowledge the loss And I, want to take this moment to denounce the time we spent Dreaming, loving, and lying to what we were The time we should’ve reclaimed Too soon, and not quickly enough The lingering pain of your hand upon mine The biting sting of…
Cages Don’t Cure by Zachary Bennet
They say deviance is a choice. But no one asks who taught me the rules before they punished me for breaking them. My childhood was not a chapter in a textbook. It was a crash course in survival. Norms were not values in my home. The only norm was crack smoke drifting down the hallway…
The Light We Claim by Joshua Molina
They speak of life’s swift, sudden spin, But this past year, the fight was deep within. No gentle curveball, thrown in jest, But the ultimate, fire-forged test. I saw an ending where a start had been, Lost the connection, lost the air, and then, Found a new ground, though the earth felt thin— The strength…
Eve is not into Adam by Marceline Skalicky
His pendulum of maleness sways from side to side. Disgusted. Made from his rib. Repulsed. He speaks. He flirts. He winks. Despised. He stares longingly. I adorn myself with leaves. Uncharmed. He says this is what God wants. Sickened. He attempts to fuck. Unwanted. I flee to the woods. Escaped. I can’t stop crying. Panicked….
Snowflake by Riley Morgenthal
As tinsel littered the floor Snowflakes coated the outdoors The wind was chill And the air quiet As the the sun slept The moon rose with grace The universe had a plan in place Low and behold An untold story Was destined to unfold Something beautiful Something precious A memory held tight My world changed…
Words by Audrey Reynolds
Words the most dangerous weapons to be held in reverence they can cut like knives and slice through skin or can carve through wood to make something new a blade made to create can just as easily be used to kill yet here you are with the knife held to your throat and unforgiveness in…
Bad dog by Audrey Reynolds
Sometimes I ponder and let my mind wander it often goes a bit farther than it should it drags me along like a disobedient dog would a dog running against the breeze racing through forests of memories going so far so fast and remembering that nothing really lasts realizing that I’m lost and that for…
The Peeling of a Pomegranate by Lee Clouston
The Peeling of a Pomegranate I’m not sure when it started. When I started to think about how little I knew of you. Pomegranate is my favorite fruit. I don’t eat it often; they are a mess to peel. But for you I would peel a hundred. I don’t even know if you like pomegranates….
Paths of Destruction by Amanda
Paths of destruction litter the road Leaves in the storm Swirling, spinning, surrounding me Blocking my view Paranoia, depression, and despair My only companions. Bloodstained knees from constant prayer Voice echoing in the empty air. Blank eyed vision clouded Silent voices shouted Listening to the words I cannot hear. Bravely feeling fear Wrapped in shadows…
Kynósoura by Jonathan Gonzalez Trejo
My mothers love can’t be seen by squinting at the measuring spoons My mothers love is an achoo away from blowing me to the moon My mothers love ain’t something you see on the road killed My mothers love is sacramental hair that don’t want to be cut away, so hold still My mothers love…
Rearview by Samuel Sandoval
Rolled the windows down. Voices, muffled through the wind spinning past. The lights cut across my chest, and the radio played songs I’d never choose. The moon seemed to know something I didn’t. It watched as I held my hand out the window, slicing it through the air. The crisp wind filled my ears and…
Always a Student by Samuel Sandoval
The smartest person I ever knew was also a student. They always dove head first into a pool of not knowing. They always asked more than they answered, and never answered what they didn’t know. A graceful pen, chugging along a narrow road, filling in what most don’t see. The smartest mind I ever met…
Organ Donor by Sofia Montanez-Trujillo
When I die, give my body to those who need it. Let them take my eyes, my skin, my liver, my heart, my bones, Let them have everything. Put flowers on my tombstone, say your prayers, weep your tears — but please, do not mourn me. Do not mourn the empty space that surrounds where…
I’ve Got You! by Aspen Hermance
Biography: Ever since I was little, I’ve always had too much going on inside my head. Art is one of the only ways I can let “it” all out. It’s the faucet from which the chaotic swirl of my conscious thinking can leap out into the world. Whether anything meaningful has come out of it…
Lebensmude by Alexa Marshall
Biography: Art to me is about expressing a feeling and a story. It can be in big flashy ways, such as cinema, or in more subtle and personal ways that may not be obvious to every observer. Artists put their feelings, thoughts and a little piece of themselves into everything they create. That gives it…
Saudade by Alexa Marshall
Biography: Art to me is about expressing a feeling and a story. It can be in big flashy ways, such as cinema, or in more subtle and personal ways that may not be obvious to every observer. Artists put their feelings, thoughts and a little piece of themselves into everything they create. That gives it…
Hiraeth by Alexa Marshall
Biography: Art to me is about expressing a feeling and a story. It can be in big flashy ways, such as cinema, or in more subtle and personal ways that may not be obvious to every observer. Artists put their feelings, thoughts and a little piece of themselves into everything they create. That gives it…