nonfiction
(to read any of the stories below, click the story's title.
By Margaret DulaneyThe Breaking Point“Several months ago I reached my breaking point over what most would deem a non-breaking point issue. It all began in a local pet store where my husband and I were buying dog food. We were headed out the door when a rather vigorous woman turned to me and seemed to continue a conversation that I had not been aware we had started. She apologized for her dog, whom I had never met, and explained that the animal had been a rescue case.” |
By Mike FreemanRock Ptarmigan“The tundra is so still, the air so light, that you hear the faint breaths of the peregrine’s wings, and though it’s forty yards off, you see clearly the reddish eye and the elaborate mask plumaging the face. Moments ago you stalked the ptarmigan yourself, but with them bundled nearly into each other’s flesh now and death stock-still above, the feeling has turned to pathos. One is certain to die, they just don’t know which.” |
By Sara MannWe Looked For It“The summer I was fourteen, my mother saw that the diamond of her engagement ring had fallen out. She did not know when or where it happened. She only realized it was missing when she looked down at her artist’s hand and found herself staring into empty space encased by a tiny basket of golden spikes. That same summer, something else happened. I think it was before the diamond left, but no one remembers for sure. My mother needed to paint a rolling pin.” |
