Nonfiction Issue #10: Women's Health April 22nd, 2022 April 22nd, 2022 Window to My Soul by Lakshmi Sunder hen it’s dark, no one can see you. So I’m a four-foot-eleven hypotenuse in the dusky blue. My sneakers that have seen hundreds of miles in half a year cry out in squeaks and scratches, but I can’t hear them. There’s Taylor Swift hammering into my ears, my headphones like two wishbones tacked unwillingly to the side of ...

Read More

Nonfiction Issue #10: Women's Health Mental Health Awareness Writing Contest Co-Winner April 22nd, 2022 April 22nd, 2022 The Kiss by Lee Milligan s a boy growing up in a small town in western Pennsylvania, I never gave much thought to the concept of a kiss. My family was very loving, and I gave and received kisses to my family members without hesitation. It was simply a sign of affection that was unencumbered by societal norms. I continued to ...

Read More

Nonfiction Issue #10: Women's Health April 22nd, 2022 April 22nd, 2022 Purple Pants by Jesseca Pirkle re you here through the night? We could really use your help!” I looked up from my phone and saw the head nurse standing in the doorway of the small hospital located in the slums of Faridabad, India where we worked. My tuk tuk had just arrived to take me home after a ten-hour workday when I looked at the nurse ...

Read More

Nonfiction Issue #10: Women's Health April 22nd, 2022 April 22nd, 2022 Fear of Infinity by Andrea Firth n the operating room, my husband sat stationed at the side of my head, a cloth barrier blocked our view. The first thing the doctor grabbed hold of was a foot, and in that moment, my husband stood up and snapped a photo of our daughter. She’s hanging in the balance. Her legs and torso are out of my ...

Read More

Nonfiction Issue #10: Women's Health April 22nd, 2022 April 22nd, 2022 Avuncular by Virginia Boudreau e tried to say afterward it was an “avuncular” hug. Hah! Well, I’m here to tell you it was anything but. I had to look up the word avuncular when I was copied on his reply to the medical inquiry panel. The dictionary said “uncle-like.” That’s not how I saw it, but I’ll allow you, the reader, to be the judge. My ...

Read More

Nonfiction Issue #10: Women's Health Mental Awareness Writing Contest Co-Winner April 22nd, 2022 April 22nd, 2022 Awakening by Jane Gabriel watched dust swirl in the sunlight shining through the sliding glass door; a beautiful Texas day. Wispy white clouds floated across a perfect blue sky. Spring and summer were my favorite seasons, and we had just moved from one to the other. My son was in his room and my daughter, Libby, lay on the couch, headphones ...

Read More

Nonfiction Issue #10: Women's Health April 22nd, 2022 April 22nd, 2022 Dr. Good Girl by Davy Ran like her,” he states approvingly, nails digging painfully into my shoulder. “She’s a good girl.” I flush in humiliation as my classmate makes worried, deliberate eye contact with me. Are you okay? their stare is asking. My body and my mind battle with each other to answer: NO!... Yes! I have to be! It’s not the first time this ...

Read More

Nonfiction Issue #10: Women's Health April 22nd, 2022 April 22nd, 2022 The Ocean, Hope and Getting Help by Emily Reicherts  go to that Angel City to face my demons and lay claim to the person I lost. First time seeing the ocean and I know I’m home, caught up in the beauty, the water sliding back and forth on the sand. The water’s inhale as the tide pulls itself onto shore, and the exhale that pushes itself ...

Read More

Nonfiction Issue #10: Women's Health April 22nd, 2022 April 22nd, 2022 The Moment We Almost Had It All by Amanda ReCupido y husband and I like to joke that we almost had a threesome on a trip to Dublin. It’s a fun dinner party anecdote to playfully shock our friends, all open-minded people, but most in heterosexual monogamous relationships. “No!” they exclaim, and we beam with delight. In this moment we’re the adventurous ones, the uninhibited. ...

Read More

Nonfiction Issue #10: Women's Health April 22nd, 2022 April 22nd, 2022 Nothing Worth Splitting Hairs Over by Shelley Pernot  remember the first time it happened. I was sixteen and it was advanced algebra class. It was our final exam, and I was struggling as usual. I’d never liked math. I looked down at the floor at the end of the period and there it was. A large pile of thick, curly, blond hair was lying innocently ...

Read More