Nonfiction

Cailean Shelley

It was a relatively warm day on October 3rd when I took the J train all the way downtown and got off at Broad Street. I passed by government-level security gates at the beginning of Wall Street, and found myself walking down an old cobble road towards the towering neoclassical facade of the New York Stock Exchange.

Tourists lined the sidewalks, and gawked in amazement at the architecture and landmarks before them. The streets were dotted with stores like Hermès, Tiffany […]

Elizabeth Jaeger

Nothing is as it should be. At the beach, I had to set up the umbrella. It’s a simple task, but I’m not supposed to do it. Dad never let anyone but my son help him. But Dad isn’t here anymore. COVID stole him from us, and after more than a year, we still haven’t regained our balance. I miss him terribly.

I always enjoyed visiting Dad at his beach house, and since his death, I still enjoy visiting because the […]

Jim Ross

Having negative cash flow, the Free Store couldn’t pay its rent. I learned of its eviction when a housemate announced, “The Free Store’s moving into our basement.” Within hours, a pickup truck pulled alongside our house and two women started lolling boxes into our dirt-floored, walk-in basement. After they left, I counted 32 boxes of clothing sorted by adult/child and male/female. Many weren’t even marked. I haphazardly began organizing.

Because the Free Store’s traffic had been generated when passersby dropped in, […]

Pavel Paramonov

Each person says about their own body “this is me,” often not grasping that there’s more to “me” than just that. On the other hand, it’s the only thing that each person sees in the mirror when looking at themselves; it’s the only thing that other people see when they’re looking at me. It’s the only thing that is seen by my near and dear ones who know me like the back of their hands! And even those near and dear ones who observe and know about my habits, my […]

Ally Riddle

Too much of my time is spent reading about sleep. If only that time could be spent actually sleeping. Instead, I learn how detrimental it is to my immune system not to. At this point, cancer or Alzheimer’s must be guaranteed. Through embarking on this sleep–or lack of it–journey, I’ve stumbled upon that old French chronobiologist guy, Jean Jacques d’Ortous Mairan. He discovered that heliotropic plants, which are essentially prettier and less-destructive versions of us humans, are not actually subjected to the sun’s patterns. Later studies related this to humans, […]

Dia VanGunten

Architecture rumbled and unrooted. The house heaved and peaked. It clattered and cracked into sharp shards of glass. It rattled and shook and lost its innards. Velvet quilts, dried roses, and pasted Valentines. Serial killer collector cards, an enviable record collection, Babe the Blue Ox. Mexican wrestler mask, marionettes, and crusty bottles of shampoo. Lacquer desk, pale blue like a bird’s egg. Pink crystal goblets. Paired paintings of Tanuki and Kitsune. Haunting Polaroid of a clown in a long-gone parade. Poodle piggy bank, wind-up robots, and water whistles that sound […]

Anu Pohani

Airplanes. Wonders of human imagination, the products of increasingly disparate hands, over a century’s worth of complexity. An Airbus A350 contains 2.65 million parts –  the culmination of the work of over 4,000 engineers. Its wing is manufactured in Spain. Its engine, as large as a house, is constructed in the United Kingdom using components arriving from China, India, or Malaysia. The Airbus A350 can carry up to 350 passengers. The company conceived the  Beluga aircraft in the 1990s to transport plane parts from manufacturing sites to assembly locations. In […]

Jim Ross

            In response to Ukraine’s valiant resistance, Western intervention, and expansion of NATO,  Putin  has repeatedly threatened  nuclear escalation. His Army has fired upon and  taken over Zaporizhzhia—the largest nuclear facility in Europe— restored its power, and abandoned it, leaking radiation. The Russian army has also taken over Chernobyl, which has revved up fears of nuclear accidents like Fukushima and Chernobyl itself.

            Closer to home, after Trump lost his re-election bid, even his closest advisors feared he might launch […]