Academy Classics: O Tannenbaum

By Thomas Page The tree sort of slumped over. Ornaments scattered all over the ground. On the way down, the tree took out several pictures on the mantle. The ground was covered in broken glass, clay, and porcelain. Their dog, Sparkles, was trying to eat the remains of a surfing Santa. “Well, I’ll get some …

Desert Wind

By Jim Bates Dave was grateful for the final emotional push as he clamored up and over the edge of Lizard Peak onto the top, a large flat area.  "Thanks, man," he said to Lyle, his life companion for the last forty years. He was nearly out of breath."I needed that." Lyle was also his …

Makeup

By Jegadeesh Kumar Vijayalakshmi alias Vj showered, dried her hair, brushed away the thought of having a ponytail and decided to keep a loose hair style. With larger earrings, it’d look graceful if the hair overflowed the ears. She scanned her image in the mirror. The hair was straight, shiny and bubbly. Yatra’s hair was …

Good Job

By Abe Margel It was the kind of hot and humid day in June that made Toronto feel like Miami. On the scorching sidewalk women in summer dresses and men in uncomfortable suits shuffled through a pair of wide wooden doors leading into the convocation hall. Inside the air-conditioned building a happy crowd was assembling. …

Jill & the Mountain

By Nancy Lou Henderson Jill turned onto the dirt road that led to the house. Looking out of the car’s windshield, she could see the house up ahead and the towering Mountain that stood behind it. Stopping the vehicle for a moment, Jill slowly inhaled as she took in the breathtaking sight in front of …

Cobalt

By Jim Bates During the first month of lockdown, Courtney, my wife, and I had a family meeting with our three kids. She did the talking. “Okay, the school is setting up for distance learning so that’s what we’ll do. Your father and I have organized our schedules so he will be here on Monday, …

Not Here

By C. Toto Zaremba We used to walk here together. We wondered who the people were And who they left behind. We knew them only as names on stones. We knew they were no longer here. Your name is not on a stone. You would never sit here quietly. I don't come here to visit …

Academy Classics: The League

By Thomas Page Mary Susannah Damon did not expect this to happen. Sure, dabbling in the Dark Arts would cause some closed-minded people to say that she was in league with the Devil himself, but she did not expect the League of Magic meeting at her local civic center to be so intolerant. "What do …

Capital Disappointment and Signs

By Arianna Sebo CAPITAL DISAPPOINTMENT Scissor Wizards hair whizzers extraordinaire buzzers and bleachers braiders and curlers lady with headphones greets me at the door she barely acknowledges I’m wearing no clothes she must be listening to a soap opera on those phones I watch her eyebrows flicker and twitch like a newly born caterpillar I …

Soap Bubbles

By Michal Reiben Clouds drift on a gentle breeze in an Iris blue sky. Tree’s branches sway in the warm light wind and birds in the trees chatter. An old hag wearing a moth-eaten dress with a face like crumpled paper is sitting on a bench by the side of a playground. She’s enjoying the …