• Nonfiction

    Awesome the Possum

    by Crystal Dalison I recently received a clipping from the Sydney Morning Herald in the mail. It reported on a study of the Australian brushtail possum population. A rare genetic disease that had previously been found only in Tasmanian possums had suddenly begun to appear within the populations of 5 of Australia’s 6 mainland states. Scientists were attempting to discern whether the gene which carried the disease had mutated independently in all of these regions, which is highly unlikely, or if a number of Tasmanian possums had successfully stowed away on ships bound for various ports. Much to my chagrin, I may be able to provide an explanation for this.…

  • Poetry

    Olympia Lighting

    by Sean McPherson Twin OPEN signs mark the entrance To Olympia Lighting. One works harder than the other. A lone Honda Element Sits in the parking lot Awaiting like a well-trained dog The return of its owner. From across the street The lamps in the display windows Don’t appear to be sporting price tags. They float and glow like the jellyfish At the Seattle Aquarium. Inside A big-buttocked employee In a black button-up Begins turning off The fixtures. A poorly-lit poster taped To the front door reads: SAD? WE HAVE Happy Lights! [divider] Sean McPherson resides in Anchorage, where he works both as a Spanish adjunct at University of Alaska Anchorage and an…

  • Nonfiction

    Tumbleweeds

    by Crystal Dalison They found his body hanging in a storage shed behind the general store. He had been there for six months. One day, in mid-August, he had told us that he was going to leave his seasonal job early and go home, and then, two weeks later, he was gone. He worked at the shop, and had been helping to get everything stored away for winter, so he knew which sheds wouldn’t be opened until spring. It got cold early that year, which slowed his decomposition and kept the smell from giving away his hiding spot. For six months, no one looked for him, no one filed a…

  • Nonfiction

    Rob

    by Ryan Terry Talking to Rob is always an experience. Whether he be telling one of his crazy life stories, or explaining one of his conspiracy-esque theories, you will be sure to walk away with some new enlightenment. Seeing my father with all of his siblings was mind boggling. Rob, Ellen, Tim, Steve, Mark, Matt, then the babies: Genne, and Kevin. They had not all been in the same place together for over 25 years, but they had gathered for my Granny’s 84th birthday. The six brothers looked exactly the same. Their faces, noses, ears. All the same. Rob loved to dance. He would always take Linda, his ex-girlfriend of…

  • Fiction

    Learning to Speak

    by L. J. P. T. Krallek “Where were you today?” he asked, looking up from his book as she came into their bedroom, her jacket halfway down her arms. She shrugged her shoulders and went to sit at her antique vanity, placing her back to him. In the first years of their marriage, she’d turn and look at him while readying herself for the night; the last several had held only cold, squared shoulders and rigidly straight backs and stilted answers to half-hearted questions. “I wasn’t sure you were coming home.” “I nearly didn’t,” she replied, pulling an earring loose from her right lobe. “There’s not much reason for me…

  • Fiction

    Fenario

    by L. J. P. T. Krallek They had called it a house of hope when they first came. There were young still, and after the dark storms of war, life seemed to hold new promise once more – despite the scars sustained by both from the days of fear and fighting. His scars were easier to name – the bullet wound in his leg, the loss of his tear-ducts in Africa, the horrors that woke him screaming in the dark stillness of the night until he cursed dreaming and hated sleep and turned to whiskey to deaden his memory and render nights calm and without terror. It was harder for…

  • Nonfiction

    The Trolley Problem: Autonomous Car Edition

    by Ryan Terry With the rise of new technology, fresh rules and ethical dilemmas are also appearing. One of the biggest moral problems that has come out of these new technologies is about how to program an autonomous car. Self-driving vehicles are in production at many car companies, such as Mercedes Benz, Tesla, and of course, Google. These cars are already on the road in prototype stages, and although they have all contained safety drivers, they are fully capable on the roads. Google has even programmed their cars to behave differently and more carefully when they are around children. These driverless cars are coming, and we can’t stop it even…