creative nonfiction 4/5

Nov 27, 20226 min read

“The Seven Second Event” by Andrea Lawler

It’s the last weekend in September, and it’s warm for a fall night in North Dakota. I’m in the backseat of a Ford Zephyr, losing my...

Nov 13, 20226 min read

creative nonfiction

“Notebook Fragments: 2018-2022” by HLR

Content warnings: Mental illness, suicidality, self-harm, disordered eating, addiction, death, sexual assault. Notebook Fragments:...

"Reasons I Cried During Pregnancy Part I and II*" by Melissa Flores Anderson

Nov 13, 20224 min read

creative nonfiction

"Reasons I Cried During Pregnancy Part I and II*" by Melissa Flores Anderson

Reasons I Cried During Pregnancy Part I and II* Written in 2017 Part I I tend to be a bit of a crybaby already so it shouldn't have come...

Oct 30, 20222 min read

creative nonfiction

"Not Knowing" by Maud Lavin

The Midwest is a small-talk, large-silences place. Growing up in one of its small towns meant often not knowing the secrets were there,...

Oct 20, 202214 min read

creative nonfiction

"Learning to See" by Carol Forgash

Suddenly, it was second grade and we were allowed to walk to school together without a parent. We had to cross at the corner. If we...

"5 Stops on the Road to Ruin" by Joseph Lezza

Oct 20, 202226 min read

creative nonfiction

"5 Stops on the Road to Ruin" by Joseph Lezza

George Frederic Handel Hotel If you happen to be staying at the George Frederic Handel Hotel during your time in Dublin, and you’ve made...

Oct 17, 20224 min read

creative nonfiction

“Drifting” by Rachel Laverdiere

As we hit our first bout of turbulence, drifting across the Pacific, you flutter kick within me. My life has become monumental, yet I am...

Oct 2, 20222 min read

creative nonfiction

"The Meeting" by Catherine Bourassa

She is spirited, they say, a kind word for difficult. She is easily frustrated and prone to tantrums. Her preschool teacher once...

"Chex and Balances" by Melissa Wabnitz Pumayugra

Oct 2, 20223 min read

creative nonfiction

"Chex and Balances" by Melissa Wabnitz Pumayugra

I think of her when I enter my kitchen. I think of her when I see fresh beets, used ashtrays, gleaming Oldsmobiles, or bright red hair...

Sep 18, 20221 min read

CNF

"A Greek Odyssey" by Lorraine Murphy

We journeyed for three days and nights, o’er land and sea to the distant island of Crete, ignoring our parents’ concerns. We could have...

"PRAYER OF INTERCESSION RE: ST. BRIGID" by Shelby Rice

Sep 18, 20222 min read

CNF

"PRAYER OF INTERCESSION RE: ST. BRIGID" by Shelby Rice

prissing quietly mother's hair frizzing around own jawline—curse your nose unhooked as glasses slip down. you have been asked to watch...

Sep 18, 20224 min read

CNF

"Those Damned Birds" by Emmy Teague

We didn’t think anything of it when the chickens started dying. There were always problems with animals hunting our birds. We lived on a...

“Phone Notes from Dizzying Heights” by Beth Mulcahy

Aug 7, 20223 min read

creative nonfiction

“Phone Notes from Dizzying Heights” by Beth Mulcahy

Have you ever watched the sunset at cloud level? Watched it dip below the cloudline while you were right there with it, right there in...

"There Was A Storm, and Then There Was Us" by Belle Gearhart

Aug 7, 20223 min read

creative nonfiction

"There Was A Storm, and Then There Was Us" by Belle Gearhart

We are standing next to the car, and the sky is an open wound, misty and oozing, shades of pink beginning to interrupt the bruised gray....

“Here’s a Picture of Me” by Patrick McNally

Jun 12, 20222 min read

creative nonfiction

“Here’s a Picture of Me” by Patrick McNally

Here’s a picture of me, my parents, and my brother Chris, back in 1982. They are dressed nicely, perhaps for church or some event. I am...

Jun 12, 20221 min read

creative nonfiction

"Queen of Wrath" by Russell Hehn

My 27-year-old mother is forever blasting down the bubbling asphalt of late-summer Mississippi in a sky-blue 1978 Mercury Cougar—so wide...

"Stranger in the City" by François Bereaud

Jun 12, 20223 min read

creative nonfiction

"Stranger in the City" by François Bereaud

Stranger in the City (Abijan, Ivory Coast, 1998) I was unable not to take a second look when I saw them walk through the hotel lobby to...

May 29, 20226 min read

CNF

"The Pickup Artist" by C. Ben Stevenson

Lana lit my hair on fire a couple weeks ago trying to light a stogie, so she crinkles her arm when we embrace to avoid a repeat singe....

"Incident at Harlem Hospital" by Kendall Johnson

May 29, 20223 min read

CNF

"Incident at Harlem Hospital" by Kendall Johnson

A word from the author: As a trauma therapist I was invited to Harlem Hospital to talk to the ER staff, ambulance crews, and doctors and...

"When I Remember How it Felt to be Thirteen" by Beth Mulcahy

May 1, 20222 min read

CNF

"When I Remember How it Felt to be Thirteen" by Beth Mulcahy

I think of the night I decided I couldn’t wait to not be thirteen anymore. It wasn’t a far drive; I only lived a few blocks up the...