I am one. I am one of millions of mothers out there trying to understand this COVID-19 pandemic. I want to cry, scream, throw my fists in the air and punch this invisible enemy.
The Coronial Rocking Chair by Denise Castro
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Magazine
For Our Love of Memory by Zebib K. A.
Remembering gets easier with practice. Practice by pulling out the yolk of nostalgia, feeling for the overdue residues. The cardboard cut-out birthday cake from kindergarten class, with paper candles, icing, and painted flames.
Naked and Unafraid by Lacey McLaughlin
It was time to get naked and face the ugliest parts of myself. The water roared and the trees glowed, taking on a life of their own in the Costa Rican jungle.
The Drive to Corinna by Annette Freeman
I was supposed to be at Corinna by now; they were expecting me at the pub, but the journey had taken longer than I thought.
The World’s Most Photographed Woman by Katy Lennon
Growing up, I saw Princess Diana a lot. In newspapers, on TV, smiling from photo frames. Suspended, headless, in the centre of porcelain plates on plastic stands never intended for use.
Troublemaker by Robyn Camber
Noelle had promised she would write. She was different when she said it. She was the straight-backed, empty-eyed Noelle I’d come to loathe in our last weeks together.
Tess and Friends Try On Selves Like Swimsuits by Dia Roth
We try on bodies—like them, long / for them—then try others. Somewhere / between hunger and earnest thirst, / we shapeshift.
The Time We Had by Susana Ramirez
The last memory I have of Cuba was from the back of a car, seeing my grandmother fade away. Had I known then what I know now, I would have held her a little tighter for a little longer.
Tunnel Rats by Nick Norton
A scruffy valley of fields lay behind me. I had lost my path and stumbled along amongst the cabbages for the better part of the day. Before me I found an impenetrable snarl of shrubbery. Then, surprisingly close, the clang and grind of a heavy metal lid being moved.
Once Bitten Twice Shy by Dan A. Cardoza
The Headmaster scolded him for burning and biting his skin, and all he could do was apologize to his stepmother.