by Evan Nasse By my freshman year in high school I had thought I finally started to really understand who I was and what I wanted in life—as many bright-eyed, idealist teenagers are wont to do so early on—until one of the more influential teachers in my life called me out on my self-serving, hubristic delusions. “You’re a fairly bright kid, but I don’t think you truly know what it is you want from yourself, so you aren’t really doing anything special by half-assing your schoolwork and maintaining a ‘good enough’ grade. You’re cheating the man in the glass and I won’t stand for it.” Mr. Gornick didn’t pull any…
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A Snowy Challenge
by Brance P. Peña Like all natural wonders, snow is just another thing of science, but there is something about it that seems almost spellbinding. To a native of Manhattan, snow is a rarity: To most New Yorkers, a nuisance, but to the few enchanted, it is pure magic. It is perhaps Tim Burton’s depiction of a snow-covered suburban neighborhood, contrasted by a lone and dilapidated mansion that instilled my love for Anchorage. That being said, it is only with the greatest respect to the natural world that I admit that snow is not all beauty and romantics. It can be an entity of great terror and even greater power. This…
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Fruity Economics
By Evan Nasse “The Blueberry Party has gone too far this time!” Cries the leader of the Red Apple Party, Red Delicious, pointing his finger accusingly in the direction where the patch of Blueberries are seated. “You can’t just decide that we’re going to pay for pesticides for all of the produce! This is an outrage and we will not sit idly by. Starting the day of the implementation of the Affordable Pesticide Act we are implementing a Cropwide Closure unless you agree to our demands to defund Obamegranatecare!” Screams the Red Apple Party representative into the microphone. “You can’t shut down all of the crops just because you disapprove…
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Hatchery Experience
by Angela Wilkinson “What’s that smell?” a first grader remarks as I lead my last tour around the William Jack Hernandez Sport Fish Hatchery. I take a deep breath and think hard about the fishy odor I have grown so used to during my three month internship here at the hatchery this past summer. I tell the first graders that it’s the smell of fish and it’s the best smell in the world. I take the opportunity to ask this group of children if any of them have caught a fish before and, as usual, I learn that less than half of the group has ever been fishing. Fishing was…
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Land Rediscovered
By Simon Frez-Albrecht Anticipation—and exasperation—had been building all summer toward this one special day. I had the fortune of stepping in right at the end to wrap up loose ends and hop on the bandwagon. By the time I showed up, hundreds of hours had gone into planning and arranging the logistics of putting all 35 first-year students at APU on the Yukon River for ten days, not to mention the 10 staff going with them. The last week before departure, the students spent their mornings in class while we shopped for food and sorted gear. In the afternoons, we conducted lessons in wilderness living, basic water rescue, and geared…
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Haunting Tales
by Brance P. Peña As October concludes in its festive glory, it is impossible not to indulge in the fashionable darkness that the western world has modestly raised us on. This day is wholly dedicated to quality scares, horrendous sights, wicked practice, and candy. Though we only get one day of the year to truly hone in on, and appreciate, these dark pleasantries, it should come as no surprise to us that fear is alive and present, every single day. This article offers three stories, petrifyingly terrible in their own unique manners. The first tale is one of a near-death experience on the Eagle River; the second, a spectral…
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Take That, “The Man”
by Evan Nasse Originally posted to the 49 Writer’s Blog When I was first asked to be a guest blogger for this website, I had already sat through a 2 hour lecture from a Pulitzer Prize winning author, and had two of my short stories passed around a 400 level college writing course to be dissected and workshopped. My work was—is—going to be exposed; some will like it, others might hate it, there will be criticisms constructive and destructive in nature. Last year I was one of three scholarship winners for writing, and each of my professors that approach me and tell me I’m a brilliant writer have only read…
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Worthless People – An excerpt from the book (Part 2)
By Tim Wilson (continued) “It will be dark soon,” Dave said. “We should camp and cook these here. Besides, we’re being followed.” “Kulima?” Scott asked, looking at Dave for evidence of concern. “He is not a Kulima,” Dave answered, then shrugged to indicate he was not concerned. They returned to their more comfortable bond of silence. The time for speaking was when the fire had been built and the birds were dressed and cooking. Scott eagerly anticipated the time after a successful hunt. He loved to cook; Dave loved to let him. But telling stories around the evening fire ranked highest for him. Then, his friend Dave really talked. They…
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Tiny Dancer
By M. Erickson It’s funny how certain songs can define an era in your life. The chords make their way from the speakers to your ears then right on in to your heart. In high school, the movie Almost Famous was released, and with it a whole new chance to fall in love with Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.” It’s a great sing-a-long song, you almost can’t help but join in with the chorus: Hold me closer tiny dancerrrrr, count the headlights on the highway… My friends and I sang it all the time, especially on long road trips—my friend Terry would always do this little dance with his hands to…
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Welcome Back to the Turnagain Currents!
Hello dear reader, and welcome to the Turnagain Currents. Whether you’re new to the website or are returning, we hope you enjoy your visit. The Currents are a student-run media outlet that contains creative writing, photography, student essays, editorials, and more. We, the editors of the Turnagain Currents, built this website from scratch first semester of last year, and spent the second semester adding content to what we had created. At the end of the school year, we released a print edition of the publication, which will happen annually. It was a great start for the Turnagain Currents, and a solid foundation for us to build on to. After a…
