When the lunch bell rings we gather again, a clot of disheveled junkies in the artery of the hallway. A couple of new zombie faces have appeared, including the living-dead doctor and a girl named Melanie who wears the ubiquitous sweatpants and, instead of flip-flops, dirty pink Dearfoam slippers. She’s young and skanky-cute, like she … Continue reading “Meet Steven” by Chris Jansen, 2019 Non-Fiction Spring Contest Winner

Every object persists in its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it. Jaxon was stranded all the way across town when he called me at three-thirty on that Thursday in November. He rushed through the introduction – “Heyineedafavor.” I … Continue reading “Laws of Motion” by Lena Crown, 2019 Non-Fiction Winter Contest Winner

“Mama, why does Daddy get his name in the Bible twice, and mine’s in there just once?” I was five when I confronted my mother as she stood at the kitchen counter, barefoot in her sleeveless blouse and pedal pushers, dipping a wet chicken leg into flour. My mother dropped the chicken back onto the … Continue reading “Ghost Images” by Karen Collier, 2018 Non-Fiction Fall Contest Winner

Winner of the Fall 2017 Non-Fiction Contest There’s no cutesy way of saying this: yesterday, just as our daily walk in the hills was nearing its bucolic climax, Hazel murdered a deer. As luck would have it, the bloody harvest happened across the street. What would the neighbors think? I was about to throw her … Continue reading The Slide Zone by Noah Sudarsky