The summer air is thick on West 45th street. Sara and I are pressed up against the metal barricade at the stage door outside of the Al Hirschfeld Theater, sweating our asses off. We’re suffering for even a glimpse of the luminous, Tony-award-winning diva, Ella Rose. We’d seen her shine as the tap-dancing chanteuse in […]
“Who put Bella in the Wych-Elm? Who put Bella in the Wych-Elm?” # Hagley Woods is silent, except for the skittering of dried leaves across the path and Maggie’s childish ditty—slightly off-tune and too loud in my ears. The tree she’s singing about glares down at us, its knots a multitude of disapproving eyes. Not […]
After two whole months of careful planning and diligent preparation, the Crimson Heights School annual fair is finally underway. The two-day affair sees the entire high school campus transformed into a grand festival, filled with fun game booths, interesting shops, and all sorts of food stands. As President of the Crimson Heights Junior High School […]
Content Warning: Shooting, Death, and Suicide . Kayt gazed up at the palace that loomed above them. Its spiraling turrets, which appeared to be constructed from coral—or grown, perhaps?—punctured the caramel-colored clouds that hung low over the barren surface of the planet. When they had arrived, all four of them had stood for several minutes […]
Now My sky is the ground, and my ground is the sky. A baseball field coated in settled snow, a set of swings, and a plastic jungle gym form my sky. My ground is gray and clouded with that fog that sometimes follows snow, and a single vulture hovers through the fog, patiently riding the […]
The Scent of Laila Thorinson was first published in Lunch Ticket . “Who did you pick?” my mom calls from the kitchen where she is chopping, knife hitting wood. Something sizzles and smells meaty—spam and rice. I wiggle my backpack off and it lands with a thud. I try to sneak off to my room but Mom […]
Content Warning: passing, veiled references to physical abuse and sexual assault. How the prom committee thinks they’ve turned this gods-awful gym into a passable Greek temple is beyond me. I stand in the foyer, heels digging into the linoleum floor as if the flimsy material could keep me safe. I’m early and dateless and the […]
After we drink the amazing potion Rosa and Paulo concocted, we dance our asses off until we’re all glistening with sweat. It’s the best. Even though I know the alcohol was burned off when Paulo lit the cauldron of potion aflame, I feel like I’m buzzing on a high. We all are. Glazed eyes everywhere. […]
My parents used to say that kids never know what they’re doing when they make their own decisions, but the night I met Shiloh wasn’t an accident. It was the summer before my senior year of high school, and I was in charge of WonderWorlds Theme Park for the weekend while Bruce visited our sister […]
Matt Summer’s barely started, but it’s so hot here in L.A. already, even this late at night, that I go straight to the rooftop patio when I get home. My parents are in bed, and when I crack open the Dr. Pepper I brought up, I almost down the entire thing on the first swig. […]
The universe is crashing down on her and all she can do is lie there, eyes dazzling with broken stars. A wave of asteroids pummels her, shards of icy rock plunge into her torso. Hazy shadows filter in and obscure one side of her face, the moon sees all. A tall, haunting figure stands at […]
I’m not sure how long I’ve been out here, staring at this envelope. I’ve planted myself against a cinder block wall on a dimly lit patio that’s attached to a hole-in-the-wall club. It reeks of rancid beer and mildew, but it’s the only place in town that hosts all-ages shows. I should be inside, doing […]