Reds caught a gun charge around the time my deciduous teeth started coming in. My toddler-faced mom — pregnant with Deion — clamped on heavy gold bamboo earrings and clubbed every night.
Straight Shots of Family by D. Watkins
Category: Creative Nonfiction
Chapter One: Foraged Love by Alexandra Risen
A plastic bag sat on the top shelf, near the back. It contained large, shiny-white ladies underwear … “Is this a gift for someone, Mom?” I asked. “Oh,” she said. “That’s for my funeral. Make sure you don’t lose it.”
Minutes from Savannah by Kelly Flick
My family plot at the Catholic cemetery is nearly full but until recently, contained no headstones.
Sweating the Sweater by Jim Gray
It’s not that pink is inherently bad. I just see pink as the marijuana of colors, the gateway hue to the harder addictions of princess obsession and vanity.
When the Light Changes by Christine Cooper
When the light turns green, no one else is at the intersection. My hands cross one over the other to round the corner.
Mirrors and Reflections by Jacqueline Doyle
Under the fluorescent lights my reflection looks unfamiliar—the color of my hair lurid and artificial, my face pale and drained of life.
Guns and Dogs by Stuart Gelzer
Tbilisi in August is muggy even with the windows wide open, and the drawback to having the windows open is the noise.
The Marble by Renita Ford-Collier
Daddy’s in between jobs again, so all four of us are back at Auntie’s. I hope it’s for a long time.
Good Intentions by Penn Stewart
My siblings and I had stumbled down the walk hauling our pillows and blankets to the waiting car… the three of us piled into the backseat and tried to recapture the comfort of our beds.
Blue Eyes at the Wheel by Anthony J. Mohr
My father was an actor who was known for playing outlaws. The ladies loved him, and he had left my mother for one of them. Stan was a balding businessman … who acted, well, like a businessman.
