Category: September-October 2021

The Flight by Nita Noveno

As the plane reaches cruising altitude, we listen to the pilot’s brief welcome.

It’s hard to reconcile that Dave Thomas had three daughters but only named his restaurant after one.

Every house on this street — boxy and small — is exactly the same….

…How one left, and they all followed, until the blue of the sky was blotted with black….

Mom said we had to come to the shelter because she and Dad fought too much….

Clyde angles his muscular shoulder in front of mine, forcing me to stop and let him push the gym door open…

I hold the green plastic basket like a blockade between us. I won’t reach out. We’re not allowed to touch….

I’m taking the long way to Austin…cutting northwest up 71, a highway so beautiful there’s a whole song about it….

The first time I didn’t belong, I was enrolled in a summer program at Monkey Business Children’s Gym.

In 1959, Daddy drives a short-bed pickup. I’m 10 years old, barely a head above the door handle.

Page 2 of 3