Beeping from my alarm clock stirs me from my all-too-short slumber. I pound the snooze button before burrowing underneath my favorite blanket. Fatigue creeps through my body and gently shuts my eyes for five more minutes . . . Here I am in the bathroom, staring at someone who looks more like Albert Einstein than Ashton Clark Moyer. Galaxies swirl in front of

I have an intrepid niece. You have to see it to believe it, but I can give you an idea of what that looks like from a few memories of this summer. For example, have you ever heard a three-year-old say, “Gwamma, can I have a peach?” I heard Danielle say this too many times to count when my brother

I amble through the narrow hallway, my fingers lightly skimming the peeling cream-colored wallpaper. The smell of mothballs and paint fills my nostrils, and I deeply inhale the comforting scent. The museum closed hours ago, and I haven’t seen a visitor since dinnertime, leaving me the rest of the night to double-check the paintings. I’m technically supposed to

My cousin Joel and I have always had an interesting relationship, although by “interesting” I mean “deeply dysfunctional.” One year older than me, Joel had latched onto me, his only source of friendship and emotional support, early in our lives. As we got older, he became more skilled at clinging, badgering, and guilt-tripping me into doing whatever he wanted, and

She hobbled, bent out of shape, like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. My heart tightened in my chest as I watched my mom struggle with a movement we take for granted: walking. I had watched her continuously battle health problems since I was little, but nothing like this. I questioned what quality of life was left for her if this

September sunlight toasts the assortment of modern-day chariots dutifully freezing in place in the parking lot. A fledgling breeze gushes energetically but quickly exhausts itself. I stand behind a blue and white Bruins-wrapped van. I’m as unsuspecting as the neighborhood squirrel that failed to look up when my dad’s Honda grumbled down the street early one morning. Brody

Laughed at, scorned, and alone, Looking for a direction to go— Lost in the crowd, longing for a friend. You're told you are helpless, never shown A way to grow— Battered and tired by the contempt Of those considered “normal”— Suppressed by the ones you need most, Who need to realize and accept God did not create us to be

I’m a bit sad, a bit heartbroken. I wish I were nine again and in love With no one, nothing except my dream To sail alone to Japan with my tabby cat. Get up, trembling body! There’s far too much to be done. You’ve Far too much to offer during your short Tenure on this shimmering sphere.

I want to have lunch with a red-lipped girl and make her smile, To call her the flesh of my flesh and hold her hand without guilt or fear. I want to make speeches to the religious despisers of culture, To turn the world of my youth on its head with Marcus’s words and Immanuel’s thoughts. I want

The inability to love: You search and find the one! But your past: Burning up inside of you, while cold and lonely. The cold and loneliness disable you. The inability to love feels like the inability to live. You can live without feet, but can you live without love? Impossible! Your ability to love may seem out of grasp. It’

In the other world, I can sense when trouble is at hand And resolve each problem that I meet. In that world, I can heal injustices And counsel lost souls with prudent voice. In that world, I can easily take command And give Earth's kingdoms peace, wondrous and sweet. In that world, I can face each pressing crisis With fearless

“Time.” With the final finishing touches complete, the room stretched to life as the examinees tensely rose from their seats, accompanying the echoes of two dozen pencils clattering to a stop. Helen released a shaky breath while brushing a rogue brown hair aside to better inspect her work. A surreal, otherworldly vision of an urban cityscape sprouting from the ground

Some monsters went easier than others. Her father’s monster crawled away to die after three sharp kicks from his soccer cleats. Her mother’s monster was fatally wounded after being sliced by a paycheck. Her brother Jamie’s monster had been harder. Madison still remembered the sound of him smashing it with a frying pan. She had even heard

Alec kept his eyes on the floor, intent on avoiding the giant’s stare. Principal Becker was a fit man of six feet with neat white hair and eyes that could penetrate a soul. So, Alec kept his eyes on the floor, determined not to break under the pressure. “Mr. Sanders, do you understand the severity of your actions?” The

The school bell rang. There were five minutes until the next class period. Shutting his locker door and swinging on his backpack, Carlos started toward his last class of the day, economics. As he cut through the crowd of students who loitered in the hallway, he felt a hand tap his shoulder. “No tag backs,” a voice said behind him.

When I was eight years old, a doctor told me I had a disability, And deep inside my heart, it didn’t bother me; What bothered me was how the world portrayed it to be. I didn’t want to be seen as the disabled girl, I didn’t want anyone to bully me, I didn’t need another label,