Published on April 7th, 2017
Editor’s Note
When I think about home, I think of my childhood. I grew up in the desert, in a small house on an acre of land, surrounded by dirt and cottonwoods.
The desert is a beautiful place. Many wouldn’t think so, but it’s true. When you get out to where it’s quiet, just you and the joshua trees, you start to notice little things. A quivering rabbit, hoping to blend into the shadow of a shrub. The line of ants at your feet. Round burrows probably belonging to snakes (tread carefully, you think). The occasional quail. And of course, there’s the big things too. The silhouettes of the mountains. The brilliant burning sunsets you won’t get anywhere else.
There’s a lot of life in this place many would call “dead”. It’s just that they haven’t seen it the way I have. Because when I look back on it, I am both happy and sad – sad because I won’t live there in the same way again, happy because I had the chance to grow up there in the first place. The desert made me. It’s still where part of the heart is.
In this issue, our authors gave us all these feelings and more. Fond nostalgia, painful experiences, the peace that can come with freedom, laughter, and friendships. Some stories take place only in this reality – a couple add a twist. The thing is, it doesn’t really matter. All of them give us ideas of what the issue’s theme can mean to people. Even what it can mean, personally, to the writers themselves.
Step over the threshold of these different homes – don’t worry, you’re invited. Take your time. Soak them in. We hope you enjoy perusing them as much as we did.
Thanks to my fellow editors, Anna Moritz, Kristen Nichols, Courtney Gilmore, Celeste Paed, and John Stadelman, for their work on this issue.
Dahazee Flores
Editor in Chief
CONTENTS:
Eagle, Wisconsin by Sydney Sargis
We Went Swimming on New Year’s Eve by Selena Cotte
Hometown by Stephen Michael Antieau
A House Divided by Val McBride
Fragile Woman by Sydney Sargis
“Jesus will be arriving in 2 minutes in the silver Toyota Corolla” by Selena Cotte
Philippines 2017 by Rialin José
Growing in the Basement by Lawrence Silveira
No Room for Purple Here by Isabella Crum
The Old Man’s Garden by Maria Schrater
Indiana: Home Version by Sydney Sargis
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