Shorts
An Ant-astrophe By Sammy Deol The early morning sunshine beamed through the tall grass blades surrounding my colony, creating beautiful shadows below. Everything was peaceful until the violent trembling started. I knew instantly: a human was on the loose, running through our lawn. In shock, I tried using my six legs to crawl away, but within seconds, the human caught up. Piercing screams rained down around me as the human began stomping on my friends and family. I witnessed their mangled, crushed corpses limply flying through the air between each step. But suddenly, everything went dark. Looking up, I saw its massive foot above me.
Prose
The Slow Descent By Cecilia Grace-Martin The air smelled of stale rain and sickly sweet flowers. It was the smell that came after a torrential storm when the air was wet but no longer fresh, the stirred up dirt leading to the prevalent scent that brings to mind an untended basement. The rain had torn the flower petals from the newly blossoming trees and battered them relentlessly, spreading a smell that was almost pleasant but left a bad taste in your mouth, like that of fruit on the cusp of rotting. The damp air clung to her skin, pressing in on her and making her feel like the air was hugging her just a little too tightly. The air seemed too thick to flow in and out of her lungs, and she felt like she was slowly suffocating. Her bare toes curled into the wet earth beneath her feet, trying to ground herself, but she barely felt the cool mud as it squelched between her toes. All she could focus on was the stickiness of her hands and the slight tickling feeling as thick liquid dripped down to her fingertips and then fell to the saturated ground. She might have been imagining it, but she could see a deep red stain slowly spreading out from her and the form lying at her feet. As she watched, it spread out over the hills and up into the gray sky, consuming the entire world. Dazed, she looked back down at the ground, at the body lying there. All she could see was too pale, clammy, sickly skin and lifeless, soulless eyes staring up at her, locking her in place, immobilizing her. There was a metallic taste on her tongue mixing with the acrid sweetness of the flowers. As she stood there, frozen, a strong wash of salt overtook her taste buds, nearly overpowering the tang of blood. She brought her hand up to her face, inadvertently smearing her cheek red, and realized she was crying. She was finally able to tear her eyes away from the sight on the ground, and she stared with unfocused eyes as her tears drew tracks through the deep red liquid on her fingertips. She tried futilely to come back to herself, but she just floated further away, all of her other senses fading as the sounds of screams filled her ears and her mind, calling, begging for her to stop, for her to put the knife down. She smelled the fear in the air, thick and choking. She felt the flesh resisting, for just a moment, before her hands plunged the knife in, over and over and over and over and over. She tasted blood as it flew up into the air. She saw the life drain from once vibrant eyes. And she smiled.
Music Performance
“Welcome to New Orleans” (Valentin Hude) By Xuyan Dong, Noa Yamaguchi, Zoe James, Taein Eom
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