Brennan’s Jetta puttered to a stop when the railroad crossing arms lowered. The crossways fell like a protective parent’s arms to their child. Cold air blasted through the vents, and the wipers scraped jagged strips of ice across the windshield. Raindrops froze in streaks. He blew into his folded hands. Beside him was a thin ...

The house had aged from the time he’d packed his bags. Simon felt his presence in the home leaving before he physically did. College started the following week. He looked around his bedroom. It had changed little since he had moved in five years ago. Faded to a dusty pink, the red wallpaper revealed only ...

The scent of cedar permeates the air as you stand there, watching the traffic pass you by. Your hair is pulled away from your face in a low-rise ponytail, and the beanie you have on your head is one you have never worn before. You’re not used to the coldness you can feel seeping in ...

My paws prance upon the hardwood floor. I look around the silent living room, and my nose directs me to a small table where the corpses of half-eaten gingerbread men lie alongside a glass of cold milk. I take nibbles of each spiced cookie so that their bodies don’t go to waste. But, I avoid ...

It’s Christmas day, and as the kids grumble about the gifts they didn’t receive, you’re in the kitchen, surrounded by the sharp aroma of minced onions while completing the repetitive task of removing the thick, robust skin of the potatoes. The kitchen is filled with the pungent and sweet fragrance of herbs as the flavors ...

With a sputter, the converted bus springs to life. Grinning, Kalie guides it to the glittering starway leading up along the horizon’s green twilight and into the thickening darkness above. She points it straight at the glowing, round moon still sitting low and red in the sky. Kalie can only see the outline of the ...

Louise tossed on her bed and turned onto her back. She twisted a blond curl splayed out on the pillow. The lights strung on the bushes outside her window took turns glowing red and green on her ceiling. In the predawn hours, Louise rose and pulled on a flannel shirt and jeans. She slid on ...

“We will go to our own Nathan Oswalin for our next story. He had the chance to interview a world-renowned graffiti artist,” Janet said with a professional smile.  She could hear Nathan in her earpiece as the story cut to him and the graffiti artist. A moment later, the director motioned to cut.  She quickly ...

Jade Home is the old farmhouse in the middle of the prairie, miles outside of town. Where Pa tended to pigs, and Ma, the best seamstress around. You hated the bacon she served. Ma and Pa told you to be grateful. In protest, you ran through Pa’s soybean fields in one of Ma’s hand-sewn party ...

My name is Shanequia, and I have a story to tell you. You won’t believe me, but I swear on a stack of bibles that every word is true. The day started with cool, crisp temps like any other fall day. Leaves were bursting in maroon, orange, and saffron. Not a cloud in the azure ...