Dear Readers,

Mason’s Road creative non-fiction is not just a route from here to there – it is the rise and fall, the relevant meandering, the journeys of our selected authors as they share their experiences. With an emphasis on arc for our third issue, we’ve selected four stories:

• A child’s seemingly endless evolution on the ferries of Alaska
• Infusion into classroom chaos from the teacher’s POV
• The mental overlap of a distracting puddle’s ripples with a student workshop circle
• The freefall of both aerial adventure and a commitment to love

Like the saltwater silhouette along Mason’s Island Road that joins Mystic, Connecticut with Enders Island and Long Island Sound, these 4 tales weave us through our author’s worlds with arcs that take readers on endlessly rich and deep excursions.

Also, we are pleased to announce that Keema Waterfield’s “Inside Passage” was selected by our guest judge Sarah Manguso as the first-ever $1,000 prize for best work among all 4 genres: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. We hope you enjoy her story and all of the selections for this issue.

Mark L. Berry & Jennifer Walsh
Creative Non-Fiction Co-Editors