Art was a Big Part of the Experience

by Annette LaSelle

Poring over the jobs posted on the bulletin board in the basement post office of the College of St. Catherine, we three girlfriends were intently narrowing our choices for this year’s lark, which was currently masquerading as a proper summer job. We spent some time with the finalists. The winner was declared when we agreed that this job, of all the offerings posted, had the greatest potential for juiciness and that it was, as an added benefit, the furthest away from home and therefore the least likely to tell tales.

Last summer’s choice had been a beaut. We had gotten ourselves all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to Bad Salzhausen, Germany. There we worked as kitchen/chamber maids at a Kriegsblinden Kurheim for about a month, while we simultaneously hung out with the United States army stationed nearby. We were supposed to have a longer working assignment than a measly month but, since we were supposed to have a working knowledge of German too, Frau Hindenburg decided she had no more need to keep her side of the bargain than we had, apparently, felt the need to keep ours. Continue reading »

Bluffing

by J. Blanco

1:24 a.m. at Ground Zero, NYC and I am thinking of your love, cold and accusatory. I can just see the remnants of your spirit now, standing hands on hips before me, them smoky brown (accusatory) eyes asking me, “how can any love be cold?” To which I reply telepathically, “I’m sorry, but it was never warm or inviting.”

A wind rattles the gates and lifts up dust and discarded detritus; rats scuttle and a barnyard howl escapes my mind. I sway back and forth, lying in shadow, flaccid back and butt against stiff and scabrous concrete.
Continue reading »

Risky Business

by Irene Schultz

Is it Risky Business to assume that all my credit cards will be paid off by summer? Is it Risky Business to assume that with a new president he will change everything? One man cannot, and should not have to change 8 years of errors from someone else. Is it Risky Business to assume that your sixteen year old will finally get off his lazy duff and hand in his homework and not receive a 5 week report stating; failing, doesn't hand in homework. Yes, those are all Risky and they are part of my business. Continue reading »

unbridled

Wooden Coffins

by Alivian Muir

Do you believe in a
profitable exchange for
both sides?
Businessmen and their lawyers
examine your skulls
and demand the rights
to drill into your consciousness,
to extract the thick nectar of oblivion. Continue reading »

It Was Almost a Mix for Chloe

by B.W. Silver

The risk of making a mix tape was that you could never guarantee what another person listening to it was going to hear. If you clearly heard "sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows" inevitably, the person you were playing it for was going to hear "you are a rain cloud and I hate you." Conversely, if you turned up the volume full blast during the line "I chose to feel it and you couldn't choose," they will insist that the line is "I chose you because you clearly feel the same things I do." Which would just lead to all kinds of trouble. These thoughts, and a whole penny jar of others, clinked through his head while his feet jiggled absently on the bus stop bench. The dirt beneath his cheap sneakers was already plowed into neat rows, and most of the chalkboard green paint within reach of his fingers was peeled off. And still he was waiting, waiting, waiting, mix tape in his hands and self-doubt drooling in his lap. Lovely. Continue reading »

Hindsight

By Amber W.

“Hey, I am having a party and there is this guy here who won’t shut up about you,” said my friend. “When I told him that you were my friend, he begged me to call and ask you over.”

“Well, why wasn’t I invited to begin with?” I asked, teasingly, “And who is this guy talking about me?”

I pretended to lack interest, but I hadn’t had any good fun in a while. My unexceptional boyfriend was in Japan, not to return for six more months.

“He says ya’ll go waaay back,” He slurred slightly, which suggested he had been partying for a while. Then he told me the mystery guy’s name.

My heart clenched. It felt as though it were a lead weight and had dropped in to my feet. I didn’t know whether to be thrilled or furious.
Continue reading »

Bad Company

by Teresa Tumminello Brader

Dancing with Grant exhausted and exhilarated Mia’s body, allowing her to forget what was preying on her mind. She hadn’t wanted to come to this suburban disco when her work friends had first suggested it. The electronic music was too loud and the laser lights were too bright, but she needed to do something besides stay home and mope. Flirting with Grant proved the remedy to ward off negative thoughts caused by her husband leaving her for a French Quarter chanteuse.

Grant’s lips brushed the side of Mia’s face. “Let’s go to your place.” His voice tickled her ear and she shivered. She couldn’t place his accent, the lilt at the end of the words, and had been trying to figure it out all night. Continue reading »