by L. J. Bosela One misstep and she’d tumble, down the far embankment and into the river, to her death. She hated heights; they made her stomach feel like a parfait that’s just gotten pulsed in a blender. But she always found herself climbing things, going to stand on the edge. Just to prove that fear was not her master. Her toes curled at the edges of the crumbling rock as pebbles and clumps of dirt cascaded down and splashed unseen and unheard in the foaming rapids below her feet. “Kahlia!” her brother’s voice screamed over the tumult of the water below them. “Get back from the edge! I told…

by L.J. Bosela The wind whipped around him as the individual snowflakes landed about his shoulders, dropping as if they’d much rather be somewhere else rather than falling from the sky and turning the autumn landscape into a winter one. The leaves formed a brilliant carpet along the road, and the bare branches overhead sang low like ghosts moaning in the breeze. He didn’t notice, and wrapped his arms tighter around his abdomen to keep from shivering. His mother would have reminded him to have put on a heavier coat, but his father, in his perpetual stupor, hadn’t and so the next gust of wind washed his face in place…

by Megan Baker Swirls of something and nothing flow as rivers of sand in my dreams, teasing me with little glimpses of him. My daydreams told me he would show up at the perfect moment, scoop me off my feet, and we would ride off into the sunset on a white stallion. Reality told me otherwise. My life was everything but ordinary. I spent my childhood battling aliens in distant galaxies, saving earth from the malicious wizards who use black magic to threaten the innocent, and brawling nasty ghouls who threatened to take away my superhuman abilities. On the shore society curse the brave sailors of the mind who dare…

by Alexa Dobson Good evening, friends. My name is Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and I’d like to thank you for joining me for the thirteenth and final episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Over the past twelve weeks, we’ve traveled through both space and time, exploring the depths of space, our own planet and even our minds. We know that the observable universe was born nearly fourteen billion years ago in a fiery explosion, and since then, countless stars and planets have coalesced into galaxies and solar systems not too different from our own. In our little corner of the universe, life has grown and flourished for thousands of millions of…

by Gabby Brandner I sat at the oak table, lost in the pattern of the wood and only vaguely aware of my wife’s distant silhouette as she brewed a pot of Seattle’s Best; it was her favorite, but to me, it was just another variation of an ordinary beverage. I heard the scrape of the metal spoon as she shoveled generous teaspoons of coffee into the filter and my mouth was filled with the taste of citrus. All of it brought me zooming back to that awkward post-adolescent idealistic phase, where I drank coffee to play the part of whoever I thought I was and assumed the role of a…

by Krista Ruesch Rays of golden sunshine stretch over the tops of snowcapped mountains, across the windswept landscape and the wide expanse of the frozen river, giving the illusion of warmth, even at -20˙F. Deep within the woods, June stands shoulder to shoulder with a young spruce tree, trying to decide what direction to move in next. Her petite and muscular build holds her strong to the earth, yet she carries a subtle air of vulnerability, as if the world could swallow her whole, taking her underground and into an alternate universe, never to be seen again.  Dressed in her lined coveralls and most serious pair of Sorel winter boots,…

by Tricia Windowmaker Mira had only been in the group for a week. Ever since her diagnosis and failed surgery, she had been struggling with depression, as if cancer hadn’t been disease enough for her. Her psychiatrist, Doctor Lowry, recommended she try the center’s new art therapy program to help boost her mood. She’d never been an artist, but she thought, “Why not?” Better paint and pencils over another pill to swallow. She randomly sketched while the class listened to Bach for inspiration. When the music stopped, and she finally took care to look at her drawing, its contents frightened her. “Could something that dark really come out of me?”…

by Krista Ruesch Shirtless on my tippy toes, six years old, I stood in profile and stared at the long scar extending from my armpit, reaching around the side of my chest and spreading out across my back. I faced the mirror and the smooth, flat scar stretching down the center of my chest, from the collar bone to the bottom of my rib cage. I turned back and gazed at that mystery scar on the side of my chest and started to feel scared and upset. I started calling my mom, who rushed in the bathroom, sensing the panic and urgency in my small voice. I pointed at the…