Category: Nonfiction

by J. D. Harlock       I. Whatever Happened to the Worlds of Tomorrow?        Whatever happened to the worlds of tomorrow?       Whatever happened to the tomorrows that never were?      Our atomic dreams gave way to cybernetic nightmares. And it seems that, in time, we will fabricate a new vision of what is to come—that, too, will be discarded.      But what…

by Janelle Cordero I.I’m lining up the hair on the back of your neck with a razor—we’re in the garage with the door open because of the lighting, bright but not harsh. I touch you for the first time in weeks, putting my left hand on the crown of your head and pushing forward, using…

by Joshua Carlucci They call us New Appalachia. In 2005 the Congressional Research Service released a book-length report that decided we aren’t much different from the proverbial mountain people on the eastern seaboard. We’re a bit darker in color, though. We: San Joaquin Valley, California. We Valley folk are dopesick, hooked on an industry that…

by Shantell Powell       In the 1970s, my family lived all over New Brunswick before settling down deep in the Appalachian hills of the Acadian forest. Every summer, we journeyed to Newfoundland to visit Dad’s family. I have snippets of memories from my infancy and early childhood. I recall being a baby on a plane with…

by Heidi Klaassen On Vashon Island, Washington, there’s a tree that’s famous for having grown around a bicycle. Despite a compelling story about a young man leaning his bike against a tree before going to fight in World War I, the truth is it was abandoned by a local boy in 1954. He’d received it…

by Alaina Scarano It starts in Peru, in January. It’s the month of rest, of nesting, of resolutions and starting over and dreaming up the new people we can be. I want to be at home on my couch as snow falls out the window behind me. Instead I’m wiping the sweat from between my…

by Tina Mortimer The Achilles tendon rests between the calf and the heel. It’s the largest and strongest tendon in the body. It’s also the most vulnerable to injury due to its limited blood supply and the tension it endures when you flex your calf muscle. This is where M, your on-again, off-again high school…

by Tippy Rex People like to buy secluded homes in the woods far from goods and services, and then demand that you come and stay at these homes.      I can tell that the guest rooms will be cold and that I will fail to muster the appropriate level of enthusiasm for the black-capped chickadees on the…

by Matthew E. Henry Content warning: racial language and violence       This world is white and they are black.            —James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time He knows the myth, but he is the model minority. The all-around A-student: attentive, astute, Asian. He’s good at math and science, but also garners excellent grades and respect in my sophomore…

by Brenna Womer A sixteen-year-old high school junior goes to Zales in the mall with her boyfriend’s mother to pick out the ring she wants him to propose with. Both the girl and the mother know there’s only one diamond in the case he can afford—a fourth-carat stone in white gold—so they pretend it’s the…