Fever

By Melissa Williams Midway through my second week in the ICU, I spiked a fever. My heart rate soared, and my chest felt like it might burst. Ice packs were placed under my neck, and when they thawed, I asked for more.  I sucked on cotton swabs frozen in a layer of ice, convinced in …

Saying Goodbye in Key West

By Sarah Brennan “Child please, you made it safely!  Praise God.”  My Aunt Ruthie’s exclamations of greeted me in the small arrivals’ terminal at the Key West Airport. After a day of travel from California I was relieved, and slightly energized, to have finally made it.  The warm, humid, tropical air enveloped me as we …

A Canadian Tragedy

By Sherry Wong But your profile says… A friend of mine helped me with the profile. She actually changed it for me. With my old profile, nobody ever contacted me. I may as well not exist. So, this friend suggested that I modify my profile a little bit. It helped, didn’t it? I got your …

Watching Cricket with My Father

By R.B. Simpson Unsurprisingly, and like all my fellow boarders, the highlight of our school year was the Christmas holidays, straight after we had written our last end-of-year exam. Six weeks of unrestricted mayhem lay before us! We would rip our ties off and would be playing a last game of touch rugby on the …

Me and the Chandler Mall

By Debra White In mid-October 2001, a sprawling shopping complex including a two-level mall known as Chandler Fashion Square, opened in the East Valley area of Phoenix to rave reviews. Critics said malls were fading away and questioned whether the new mall would succeed. I shrugged off the doom and gloom. Someone always nitpicked, didn’t …

The Room

By Joan Hyams Schmitz It’s been a calendar full of days since the boy entered the room, dumping his backpack on the floor as he flopped onto his bed for a power nap. This brief, impromptu trip home served one purpose—a quick trip to the dentist to repair a chipped tooth. Once the incisor was …

Nightmares and the Monsters that Breed Them

By Susan L. League Dreams have always been a part of my life, especially recurrent, other-worldly nightmares. My imagination was and still is that of a child. Born and raised in the deep south by an unusual mother, who was schizophrenic, undiagnosed, and untreated, so everything was real to her. There were aliens, who planted …

An Hour in the Life of a Five-Year-Old Pool Player

By Francine Rodriguez The parking lot in front of King Drew Place of Family on Central Avenue, was nearly full that morning in 1994.  I didn’t recognize any of the cars filling the lot, stacked one behind the other. Gangster cars, black Suburbans, Escalades, and lowriders, like the ones in my neighborhood, like the 61 …

The First Date

By Ruby Pressman As we walked in to the Little Mexican Kitchen on Main Street, I leaned in to open the door, but Joel opened it for me, and I said, “Thank you!”, revealing my blue turquoise bracelet with crosses on it. I thought this might bother him, but he didn’t say anything. “No problem,” …

Life Lessons I Learned From My Cat

By Leslee Kahler I have had cats in my life since I was born, I can’t say I owned any of them as any cat owner knows the cat owns you , you don’t own the cat. Over the years I have learned much from my cats, but the greatest lessons I learned were patience, …