Lost in a labyrinth Desperate to return To when I was carefree. Where has time hidden In this never-ending hide-and-seek? I’ve given up looking. Pleading with time to return To when I could do the things I enjoyed once upon a time. To smell the sand, Feel the quilt, Hear a seagull’s chatter–– Transport me to summer’s

the joker & the queen, they said but they forgot the fool . . . the one whose face turned cherry red, and never kept her cool. the words she said never failed to fall on stopped up ears, like gentle breezes, these words, they sailed, and confirmed her deepest fears. “does he love, or love me not?” the fool asks in deep

by Emily Bond weave your clover flowers into necklaces watch your goldfish crackers swim in their blue bubble bowl borrow your friend’s strawberry toothpaste that you somehow still taste fall asleep to the sound of fireflies and playgrounds run strong-willed create without thought of breath

The world under a bluish-gray blanket Lies quiet and still as a child caught reading. She listens to the shudder of semi-trucks and mufflers Like a father’s obnoxious snoring. Bulbs glow ghostly on top of lampposts, The stems of flashlights left upended and Their fluorescence, attempted to be smothered By the palms of the clouds, upon being discovered, Flushes

It’s the middle of my last semester of college. I’m working on my capstone project for a show in the auditorium at the center of campus that smells of old wood and carpet cleaner. Deadlines for big projects are drawing closer by the minute. Applications for grad school lurk on my laptop bookmarks. I’m holding down two

The sun’s brilliant rays bore down on the band of young men as they traipsed through the dense overgrowth. Their leader held a rapier above his head and slashed at vines as they blocked his path. Sweat rolled down his bare back, and he panted heavily, wishing for any relief from the sweltering heat. His four friends followed him,

by Jonathan Talley James sat on the park bench, his breathing calm, the winds around him still as the sea. It was a pleasant day, nothing much going on. No babies crying, no people talking, no dogs barking as cars flew past. It was just a normal, quiet day. As James sat there, he could hear the faint sounds of

Brady Scott leaped out of bed at the first beep of his alarm. He nearly stumbled over his superhero action figures on the way out the door. He was so excited that he could hardly contain himself. Today was the big day. He quickly brushed his teeth, dressed, and bounded down the stairs, following the scent of bacon and scrambled

It was a well-known fact that Oscar did not like children. So when he agreed to watch his niece Natalie for an entire week, he spent the two days leading up to it wondering how on earth his sister Jordan had convinced him to do so. The doorbell rang promptly at eight p.m. There was Jordan, mostly as he

“I’m surprised he’s letting so many of us debark,” Sullivan said, glancing at Evann as she tugged her gray poncho over her head. Three crew members rushed by her. One, falling slightly behind the others, bumped into her shoulder as he bolted past, trying to catch up with his crewmates as they set off in a dead bolt—

Well-worn figures on a shelf, With shiny eyes and plastic faces And a quiet voice within That faintly calls from distant places, “Remember us, my friend! And the world that we have made Of magic and of wonder, Where the two of us have played In imaginary meadows, On ridged peaks, or shifting sand. Our world came to life with