atmospheric setting

Story·Alice Pak — As conflict between Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces approaches their border town, two childhood friends witness the gradual erosion of their peaceful world through power outages, distant explosions, and rising...

Poetry·Arabella Aab — Dawn in winter Asheville: a solitary observer watches snow fall, trees dance in wind, and contemplates ancestors' fear before the household wakes.

Personal Narrative·Aisana Zhumabayeva — After their father fails to pick them up from school, two siblings wait in an empty cafeteria until an ambulance arrives to take them to the hospital where they learn...

Poetry·Julia Xu — A poem observing wildfire from a distance, exploring the paralysis of witnessing destruction while remaining safe on a green mountain.

Story·Lina Yoon — A girl ventures into a frozen forest, falls through river ice where her brother died, and barely survives the journey home through determination and remembered warnings.

Personal Narrative·Evan Seungho Jee — A Korean student escapes winter's cold and the dread of cram school with a steaming cup of ramyun from a convenience store, finding momentary warmth and comfort.

Poetry·Emma Catherine Hoff — A woman sits alone in an automat, invisible to others, as her hair whispers conflicting advice and laughing people demand she smile.

Poetry·Ian Maduff — A car journey through an Indiana wind farm becomes a meditation on movement, shadows, and the hypnotic rhythm of spinning turbines.

Story·Camille Scott — A Jewish girl flees Vienna after Kristallnacht, separated from her family and sent alone to Switzerland while her deported brother's fate remains unknown.

Story·Adler Savikas — Three royal brothers shipwrecked on separate shores of the same island each journey inland through different terrains before reuniting in a dandelion field at the center.