It is ten thirty in the morning. I take the sieve from the kitchen drawer. The handle feels familiar to my fingers and palm I am reminded of the other times I've used my skills for the various people I hold dearly. Flour, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice fall through the holes of sieve and into a metal mix bowl. The mixture merges with butter, sugar, eggs, and pumpkin. I hear mom on the phone talking to my brother in Spanish as I am chopping bars of dark chocolate to pou

I wake up in the morning just like any normal person does. My alarm blares at 6 am, and I hit snooze, naturally, cause girl, let’s be so real right now. There is absolutely nothing I need to be doing at six in the morning. Eventually I drag my fat ass out of bed, walk to the bathroom before I have even brushed my teeth. Fifteen minutes have passed. Just me, standing in front of a mirror. Now, you might think I'm admiring myse

Growing up, I remember my mom always warning my sister and me about Black Widows. She made it out that they were under every dark spot in my backyard. I was made to believe that they were out to get my sister and me and that they wanted to come and attack us. Coupled with their inhuman-like appearance and eight legs, this led to me developing a legit fear of spiders. I would tell people at my elementary school, “Yeah, I'm afraid of spiders,” and I always felt a little proud o

When I was quite young, I thought the clouds were created by the billowing smoke drifting out of factories, supplying the world with all sorts of things. These plumes looked like clouds and acted like clouds, so why would they not be clouds? A similarly misinformed conclusion, I was confident for some time that the world existed in black and white up to about 1960, informed by my only insight of the period being through black and white movies. One more: before I knew that fac

Tutor fears are here. Once a year, brave English tutors confess their fears to me, and the result is a rediculous story. Enjoy, and be unafraid. Be very unafraid. Carl secured the last restraint on the kiddy roller coaster, walked over to the control panel, and dispatched The Sloth on an empty test-run before the park’s gates opened. The animal clicked and crawled along the tracks, conserving energy before the guests arrived. Such a moody beast, Carl thought. Remembering th

“Oh, it’s nice to see that your generation is not as lazy as we thought.” I’ve got to ask, “What is with people nowadays?” . . . I am sorry, but please explain to me why people think they can come up to you and say things like that. If you are wondering where my example comes from, it was the old lady at the Vons in Clovis . . . Like, really, I'm over here picking out deodorant, and you decide that was the perfect time to tell me. Like, come on, lady, there is a time and plac

Rob Juarez pulled up to the shinning monument of physical media, Videolopolis. The chrome and glass gargantuan of a super store was a treasure trove of all things Blu ray, DVD, laserdisk, CD, cassette, and of course VHS. Rob was a fanatic for all things physical and heard that Videolopolis' selection was second to none. He spent about an hour wandering the labyrinth of shelves and floors. Still, Rob felt like he had only seen a quarter of what Videolopolis had to offer. All i

Philip and I rested on the edge of his grandfather’s pool. A few leaves from the fruitless mulberry trees overhead fell prematurely, and I extended my scarred pool noodle into the water and lifted them out. It was fun peeling the leaves off the pool noodle and slapping them on Philip’s leg. He didn’t like it, so he peeled them off and put them on my arm. I left them. We spent our entire summer, from sunrise to sunset, in that back yard getting a tan. We’d been neighbors

With the recent allegations made toward Ceasar Chaves, I feel it is important to have a discussion on survivorship and the culture of protecting abusers. For a long time being a survivor, to me, meant being vigilant and untrusting of others, especially old men. It meant being afraid of my own family, and it meant being quiet. I have seen the criticisms Dolores Huertas has gotten for only now speaking up about the abuse she suffered. But I know why; it is the same reason I was

The pinch behind my scapula transcends, infecting my shoulder, climbing up my neck, and settling in my ear bones, where a post-apocalyptic and dystopian playlist regulates my brain. I’ve been busy. It’s been a month since I’ve sat for hours at my desk, reaching my right arm forward and hunching over. It’s difficult to sit and write for more than one hour, but I’ve written 500 words so far. Adjusting my red pajamas riddled with white poke-a-dots and pulling at the neck of my u

The turquoise night sky is torn apart as it flies, while its wings leave behind a shimmering dust that gently rains down upon the pinkish dunes towering over the Zentrati Desert on planet Iria. With a beak and talons that shine a glossy metallic gold, cream colored scales, and a snowy, feathered head donned with fiercely curled ram horns, the creature owns the heavens with angel-like grace. No one knows how long the beast, referred to as the Thunderer, has been alive. Some sa

For the longest time, to me, dancing was just movement. It was the idea that there were steps to follow, counts to learn, and, honestly, just making shapes with my body. Through time, somewhere along the way, it became something more. It was no longer just showing up, following the counts, going home, doing it again the next day. It became something that made me realize what I was feeling on the inside could truly live outside for people, for me, and I could do this through m