July 11, 2018 The Terrible Truths About Price Tags When I was four, my parents bought me Barbie dolls on the regular from Toys R Us. I’m pretty sure that I had dozens…
July 8, 2018 Cracked *This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used…
July 4, 2018 On Coming Home Do you ever find yourself too close to a situation, so close that you come to realize the only way to gain perspective is…
July 1, 2018 Arbitrarily *This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used…
June 27, 2018 Subways and Spaghetti If you haven’t, be sure to read “Skyscrapers and Juice Boxes” for the beginning of this story. *This is a work of fiction. Names,…
June 24, 2018 Linda La Jirafa *This is a work of fiction, based upon current events. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.* Four days ago, my little family–Mamá, Papá, Abuela, Abuelo’s cigars, and I–were pushed into a white van in the middle of the night. Everyone was shouting about tents, the government, and something called deportation. I didn’t understand…
June 20, 2018 The Most Valuable Currency *This is an excerpt from a longer story written in 2016, titled Forging a New American Dream, which is a nonfiction account of my personal relationship to money* After three years of trying my best to save up, senior year turned out to be the one year I could afford to have a real spring break: tropical location, good friends, and some delicious drinks. My best friend, Lucy, invited me to visit her parents in Port Saint Lucie, Florida. It worked out nicely for everyone involved: we both got to see her family and get the warm, sunny spring break we imagined we would get at one point in our college years.
June 16, 2018 Skyscrapers and Juice Boxes *This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used…
June 13, 2018 Denouement As the sun went down on the Steel City, a girl dangled her legs off a small foot bridge. In her right hand she held a clear unlabeled bottle of liquor and in her left hand, she held her small black studded clutch. Mascara was smudged around her eyes. Some stained tissues left a little trail of the most recent events around her. Footsteps approached her. She did her best to wipe her eyes.
June 10, 2018 To Those Afraid to Take the Leap Once upon a time when you were younger and the world around you was far more innocent, you stood at the edge of the pool. Maybe it was the edge of a pier, overlooking a lake full of marine life and seaweed dancing beneath the surface. There you stood in your swimsuit, wrapping your arms around yourself, looking out to the water like it was a terrible grade on your math test. Behind you, your parents called out to you.
