June 2, 2023
On the first night, Nicole stood by the kitchen window washing the last of the dishes, procrastinating. The expanse before her was dark but for star- and moonlight bouncing off the fields. It was one of the most beautiful things Nicole had ever seen. Just as she thought, maybe the dark here isn’t so bad, the tiniest, almost imperceptible dust up at the side of the house caught her attention. Nicole felt her face warm, and her throat tighten.
May 27, 2023
Once a week she’d take the medals out of the top drawer of the mahogany bureau in the room we shared. She’d carefully polish the silver and bronze bars and the ebony stars with a special soft cloth as she held each one up for me to admire.
May 26, 2023
Her eyes were heavy as she drifted… So where was she now? She dared not open her eyes as she could feel the sun behind them and that was impossible.
May 25, 2023
You asked about the gatherings. If that is real or not. Or just some Evansby tall tale to give folks a tingle and a thrill when sleepy over too much beef, on Christmas Day and ready for such tellings of magic, miracles, and happy endings.
April 15, 2023
Unintentionally, the MockingOwl Roost family chose this topic, Unknown & Unseen, for our first triannual issue in 2023 for a time in which the family would […]
March 24, 2023
Pallavi carefully put Junti to bed and sat beside her. The sounds of rain vividly reminded her of one such rainy evening three years ago when Junti had come to the orphanage with two other children.
February 24, 2023
“The alarm. I have to go home today.” Not being able to take his breath, she sits up and lights a cigarette from her pack on the nightstand. She spots the watery rum and coke also on her nightstand and downs it. When the clock radio clicks and an announcer’s laugh shoots out of it, she hits the snooze button again and allows herself nine more minutes of staring off into space. After eight minutes, she unplugs the radio so that the alarm does not get Rob up.
February 17, 2023
She looked around and saw only a sea of sand. Dunes that swept out for as far as the eye could see. She decided to walk, for what else was there to do but walk? But in what direction should she go? The only path she could take was forwards. So, she walked forwards across the sand, her bare feet sinking with each step.
February 3, 2023
After preparing for the festivities and waiting for the puja, she sat on the chair near the gate. She watched the whole neighbourhood celebrating the festival with their families, and when she looked up, she saw the skies were filled with colourful sparks. The atmosphere was filled with the sounds of bursting firecrackers. In the midst of the noise, Sahitya prayed silently for the arrival of her children.
January 27, 2023
Mrs. and Mr. Goode were dentists and rarely home. They’d try to compensate the kids by giving them everything they asked for. That is how the kids got a cat. Being spoiled as they were, the children expected the cat to obey their every word and when their parents were around, the two little angels were nothing but good…
January 20, 2023
Combine the ground beef with the soup.
Use the bowl – the one she got from her grandmother.
Cut up the onion. Don’t worry. You have no tears left.
January 13, 2023
Knowing that the piano had just been tuned that very afternoon, Mikel asked, “Are there any other notes that are ‘broken’?” Young Hans scrunched up his face and then plucked the piano keys from the very lowest bass notes to the delicate high notes. In all, he picked six other notes that were ‘broken’. Mikel told Hanson that the piano tuner had been there that afternoon but that he would call him and arrange for him to return and make sure that Hanson was there to “help” the tuner.