by Will Day It seemed like just another crossing between Bahamian Cays. Sure, the rip current was moving faster than they’d encountered before, but they’d compensated by giving the racing water a wide berth. Five novice kayakers began to cross, eager to test their newfound abilities on what would be their first crossing without instructor guidance. Fifty yards offshore, their plan disintegrated. The bow of a cruise ship–reminiscent in size of an apartment building–punched through the gap between islands and charged, like a bull out of hell, toward the five students in their feeble plastic boats… [divider] Alaska Pacific University is unique in the world of undergraduate education, offering a…
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The Trail
by Fischer Gangemi His footsteps disturb the sleeping trail It ponders this new arrival as it has every new season He does not know what it is that calls him to this endless place The man’s steps wind onward towards everything He pauses as his soul hears a new yet familiar sound It beckons over the roar of the silent Wilderness He peers around the corner through the shadowed quite little lives He sees nothing but knows regardless His steps come nearer and the familiar sound of the brook of irritation echoes stronger He bends cup in hand to quench his thirst with the fast water His cup stops and…
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Big Prairie
by Fischer Gangemi Introduction When I was eleven years old my parents took me on a family river trip not far from home on the South Fork of the Flathead River. I had been on many river trips and have been on many more since, but something about this trip was special for me. I think it was the isolation. The only ways to access the headwaters of the South fork is to either hike or ride a horse somewhere between fifteen and thirty miles depending on the trailhead and the tributary you want to start on. Starting at Young’s Creek, it’s over a forty mile float through wild and…
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The Sand Man
by Evan Nasse Go. Go on and jump towards the darkness. What are you waiting for? You want to do it, and you aren’t fooling anyone by saying you don’t want to join us. Me. We. I. That terrible, echoing, dulcet voice. That was how it always started. A soft whisper into the ear, a slight tickle that made the hair at the tip of an ear tingle. Every single time the lulling timbre echoed behind eyeballs and made a chill run through each inch of skin, like the tell-tale signs of water beginning to boil—slow rhythmic bubbles at first, then a loud, roiling assault an instant later. In each…
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How to Stop Loving Him
by Bridget Galvin Convince him to get a new haircut and when he does, notice the way it doesn’t frame his face the way it used to, notice that his shaved head reminds you of your cousin who, as your mom said, enlisted too young. Listen to him; really listen to him and when he talks watch the way his mouth automatically turns into a smile after every single sentence he utters. Try to talk to him about your fears, try to have a conversation with him about something other than the weather or the people in the restaurant across the street. Watch the way he cannot manage one dialogue…
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An Autumn of New Beginnings
by L.J. Bosela All she had ever wanted was to live quietly, simply, away from noise and crowds, in a safe cocoon of her own making. Over the years, that dream-haven changed in her imagination–sometimes resembling a monastic cell with stacks of books and little else, and other times a eclectic and bohemian den with overstuffed armchairs with mismatching cushions and funky crocheted afghans and hand-dyed curtains. There, she would be happy in a paper-filled, ink-scented life of words and writing, including others only when she wanted, and only those whom she really liked and who understood her. Now, however, she questioned that completely solitary life and wondered at how…
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Sunday Best
by Olivia Lada The last time I saw her was maybe 9:30 pm on a Saturday. Everyone had Church early the next morning, so even though the Midwestern sky had only just darkened, most of the crowd began to pack up and head home. That’s just the way things seemed to work, even on a comfortably thick, warm summer night like that one. I remember standing under the huge sycamore tree in her front yard, wanting nothing more than to stay for even just a few more minutes, but also overcome with the sense that neither I, nor anyone else was still welcome. She was hugging the trailing guests uncomfortably.…
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Junior Nationals
by Thomas O’Harra So, in the past week, I’ve gone from living alone on a bunk in a hostel to having the best bed in a house with a bunch of my teammates from Team AK. We have a pretty good situation, although to get to meals we have to walk almost a mile, which gets old when we are walking two or three miles every day. Other than that, the food is really good, and everyone is really pumped to be here. Yesterday, we had the first race of the championships—a skate sprint. For the qualifying round I started first, because I am the highest seeded sprinter here. It…
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Living Leather
by Olivia Lada Cold, wet, and utterly uncomfortable. I wasn’t having the best day sifting through tide pools for slimy invertebrates. Too squeamish to touch any of the recent finds, I was happy to allow my fellow students to overturn the glistening rocks and dig through the stinking silt for small creatures. We had been crouched over on the beach all morning, my entire science class shuffling around observing tidal pools across the bay from Homer, Alaska. In all, it wasn’t a bad way to begin the school year, but if I’d have any say I certainly would have requested better weather. The initial excitement of the day had finally…
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Can Diet Cause Mental Health Problems?
by Kayleigh Gilbert Are nonfat yogurt and sugar free candy as good for our bodies as many ads make it sound? What do we actually know about the chemically processed ingredients and their reactions with our bodies? Can these ingredients be connected to many mental and physical problems like ADD, unexplained blood clots, birth defects, and quite possibly even Alzheimer’s? Refined sugars like the ones you would find in a bagel or a pumpkin bar have been linked to hypoglycemia which causes hyperactivity during low blood sugar. Wade and Wolraich (1995) did a study to find a connection and found, “This hypothesis became prominent after it was found in a…
