With a startled gasp, Enora shot up in bed, her small hand flying to her bosom. Her ragged breathing filled the room until Enora felt her...

We couldn’t get in To visit you. You were in the place Where it’s serious. We waited outside of The inside window, Hoping to get a chance...

In early 1972, I stayed for a short while with my parents in Kansas City after spending the previous year and a half as a volunteer poverty

They sat on opposite ends of the room. Jorge against the grate covered radiator, which happened to be off for once, and Cherry on her...

-1- She is the oldest of seven children and the mother of one. She and her next sister were born in Pratt, Kansas. Her family moved to...

The following are things I didn’t learn during my birthing class: How you should maybe consider taking the birthing class well before...

I didn’t mind being a mail-order bride. Even when I had to travel six years to meet Larry. Mr. Elon Musk himself put us in cold storage...

I’ve learned to resonate with the small and empty space between the brush strokes that comprise the wilting leaves shadowed beneath...

The poet left many papers, and his cousin, who appointed himself his literary executor, separated them into plastic boxes bought at a...

I. A three-year-old’s preamble: Let’s talk about ants. Ants can walk. Ants don’t have feet. Ants have feet...

Maranda is twenty-five years old, has purple hair, a nose ring, and big blue glasses. She’s a trained opera singer, having graduated from...

Taylor McGraw is a multidisciplinary artist and writer. Her work is deeply rooted in the psychological concepts of pathology, object...

Willow Park was empty when she arrived. The thin strip of orange sunlight was melting at the bottom of deep blue. She stepped over an...

This world has outgrown us outpaced and outlasted us left us in the rear view mirror waved goodbye with a middle finger advised us our...

The summer that I was seventeen, I worked for my uncle and aunt at their rustic cabin resort in northern Minnesota. They gave me my own...

Phone calls to the kitchen during service were a nuisance, so I was gruff when I answered. I regret that now. “Kitchen. Chef.” “Raych,...

When you say it like that, you make it so believable, I say. I can still remember the scenery. The sky is blue, the sunlight passes...

When we were young We treasure hunted Under plum trees For what our arms Couldn’t reach, Our joy ripening As we picked Amongst the mushy...

This piece is part of our “Tails + Tales” teen summer writing initiative inspired by the 2021 national summer reading theme chosen...