IT FELT AS IF bandits had banned me from lead clarinetist in my high school band ensemble. I hadn’t expected it, because I thought I… Read More

“WHAT SIZE ARE your shoes?” the man asked. “What?” I turned to see the only person waiting at the bus stop. “Your shoes,” he said,… Read More

I LURCHED FORWARD in the backseat of my mom’s green minivan, restrained only by my seatbelt, so she could see me in her peripheral vision… Read More

“WE WANT ‘THUNDER Thighs’ on our team,” shouted a classmate. All the girls in gym class darted their eyes toward me. I had no words…. Read More

THERE SHE WAS, the woman who carried me in her womb with every inch and every muscle of her body for nine straight months, exasperated… Read More

IT WAS COLD. Freezing cold. Like the sub-zero temperatures of Antarctica. I use the pain as motivation to keep me going in the pool. I… Read More

THE BROOM BRUSHED the floor of the kitchen as my mom sighed. “Mom, do you need help with anything?” I ask. “No,” she responds in… Read More

I CAN FEEL my sweat-encased fingers stick to the keys. The rapid pounding of my heart resounds in my head. I hear the powerful boom… Read More

MY FATHER LEFT on Christmas 2011. I kind of saw it as a present, rather than a tragedy. I wouldn’t miss the colored pencil drawings… Read More