The Peculiar Case of Jib Tompkins By Boyd Mason               Jib Tompkins was not a nice man. This was the consensus of nearly the entire village of Wintershed, Vermont. Though no one really knew why. He was shunned by all. When the scruffy old hermit came down from the hills to do his monthly …

A Year to You By Dana Shahar               Your January is the pair of pilling wool mittens into which you tuck your pink-tipped fingers. It is the New Year’s fireworks show you missed because you were stuck in traffic at the stroke of midnight. It is the frostbitten branches glazing telephone wires, the naked …

Due Process By Lubica Kotevski   August 27th, 1998             It was blazing. Scorching, really.             “What is it this time?” asked a short, slightly overweight woman from the crowd. She wasn’t genuinely directing her question at anyone but rather just adding chatter to the already heavy crowd.  The blockade of blue-lighted police cars lit …

By: Claire Destroismaison I watched her pull out an American Spirit from her blue Versace purse. She looked exceptionally well today. Long, flowy, purple skirt, black ballet flats, with red and purple bangles dangling from her perfect wrists. Her red manicure still looked fresh from the week before. Every morning same time, 9:05 a.m., she’d …

By Jada Diaz It was bright spring day at John Buroughs High School. All was normal. The Cliques were all in perfect harmony. The Seven Quarter War between the Drama Club and the Cheerleaders had finally come to a truce, and no one had to worry about taking sides or alliances. Until The Announcement was …

By Michael A Roccia III I hate hospitals, they are so cold.  Not the temperature, I could care less about that, it’s the feeling.  White walls, white floors and even white counters that the nurses hide behind.  I stand outside my little girl’s room with only my umbrella, a stuffed rabbit and a lily in …

By Rose Titus   I know it’s strange to just say it like this, but Joe was evil.  I don’t mean that he was messed up, or disturbed, or anything like that.  He was evil.  Really.  Joe was evil.  It’s true.  I know what evil looks like.  Let me tell you this.  Evil is good …

By Michael A Roccia III   I stand in my brother’s room watching him sleep. I call him my baby brother, but he really isn’t an infant anymore. He is thirteen now, his birthday was actually just a few days ago. It’s hard to believe how fast he is growing up, not that I am …

By Tricia Nindel   My sister Julie floored the gas as I slid Frampton Comes Alive into opening of the eight track player. The speakers in her Mustang flooded the car with the mellow music, perfect for the sultry afternoon. As we drove down the expressway headed toward Nantasket Beach to see her boyfriend’s band, …

  BEWARE “CLOWN”: based on actual events   By Dan Graffeo   I didn’t come home from war to deal with this. Tawny and I had an argument. She wanted us to take Ryan to the circus and I forbid it. She got tickets while I was overseas and assumed I wouldn’t think anything of …