My People_The Alchemy of Nineteen_The Planner_Twists and Turns
Catalog Guide:
My People
The cluster of skyscrapers that define the city’s skyline loom impassively across the river, sparkling glass teeth sprouting from concrete gums under the red tongue of a late autumn sunset. Sometimes I marvel at the fullness of this city life—opportunities always available in the unknown, absolute freedom in every unfamiliar face, space to pursue passion without personal persecution. Other times I despair at its emptiness—anonymity dismissing family legacy, unpredictability awww.onedoor.ccbolishing comfort, novelty closing the door on community. I sit on a memorial bench placarded with a stranger’s name ove...
The Alchemy of Nineteen
“Your mother was nineteen, you know,” Aunt Melissa says, “when we started noticing.” Her declaration pulls me out of myself. Its not the first time she’s said this, and it won’t be the last. Today its particularly annoying, because its Thanksgiving, and I’m doing that thing where I imagine how life might have been different. You know. If my mom hadn’t gone crazy.I do this a lot, living a parallel life in my head. For example, instead of my father and Wren sitting on Melissa’s couch, staring blankly at the television and their phones, we’d be home. We’d be circled around the antique dining room...
The Planner
“Ellie, Mrs. Madonna would kill me if she saw you here after hours on a friday.” Leo, My best friend moaned again from the checkout isle of the library. The meticulous beeping of the register had become like a pattern to me. Leo looked around worriedly to check if his supervisor had seen him like he was committing a crime. “Sorry, the high school reunion took longer than anticipated. My schedule did not consider that Ivy Lillis would corner me at the buffet and make fun of my planner like she did in grade school. It also did not consider that I would have told her that I had scheduled my plann...
Twists and Turns
Hello. Comrade here. Returning an overdue library book may not sound strenuous to you. Well, I’m a particularly unique person in a perse scenario. So, yeah, your answer is erroneous if you tell me I should just return the book. It’s been at my house for an unnecessarily long time—I think three weeks. I don’t recall. All I do conjure:Those horrid nightmares plague my dreams! Bullying memories infest my mind. The bullies punch but expect no punches back. Aiming hard at my thin face during gym. Upending my lunch tray...