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NEWSLETTER

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FRIENDSHIP

It is a curious day to live next door to Russia. It is Valentine’s Day. When I was a child, we had a globe. I loved to spin the globe and orient myself in the world. […] Read More

EUPHORIA

There’s a story I like and it’s one my father likes to repeat. For forty years, he has said, “It was as if a thousand needles were stabbing me. And then, euphoria.”  […] Read More

ELLIPSE

I’ve been in Finland for a year. One loop around the sun. An ellipse, or maybe an ellipsis. When we arrived, I thought we could rest. I didn’t think we would keep moving […] Read More

COORDINATES

I’ve been thinking about the journey. I was laid off in March. We gave up our rental house and packed in a week. I carefully wrapped Grandma’s china in the pages I tore out of Lonely Planet’s ‘Best in Travel 2020.’ […] Read More

BUNGALOW 

The Summer began, as these things do, innocently enough. And ended, as these things often do, unexpectedly. The Family needed two nannies with perfect English, flawless academic pedigrees, and a rigorous appetite for […] Read More

VICISSITUDE

As I gathered my personal things — all the little inconsequential things — I came to the realization that there was a “her”. She. Did She know about me? I doubt it. I was appalled to discover […] Read More

GORILLA

A Gorilla Escaped the Zoo Barrier. In 2 days, I drove 2,000 miles to help a friend, following a medical emergency. El Paso, Texas to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

This is what I saw. Read More

DISSONANCE

Trying as I did to extricate myself from his grasp, I couldn’t. Soon I was on the bed with him on top of me and his hands pulling off my underwear. I decided to just stop fighting, get it over with. We would talk afterward. […] Read More

RENTER

I didn’t need an alarm clock. The upstairs neighbor played fetch with her dog at 5am. Waking up was more like giving up on sleep. We responded with the tap of our Neighbor Sabor™. The ball of tape wound […] Read More

SILENCE

Dear my 17-year-old self,
If only someone had taught you to identify the sound of a condom wrapper in the dark.
Recognizing the sound — that specific sound — might have prepared you for what happened next. Read More 

FRIENDSHIP

It is a curious day to live next door to Russia. It is Valentine’s Day. When I was a child, we had a globe. I loved to spin the globe and orient myself in the world. […] Read More

EUPHORIA

There’s a story I like and it’s one my father likes to repeat. For forty years, he has said, “It was as if a thousand needles were stabbing me. And then, euphoria.” […] Read More

KEKRI

Day of the spirits, night of indulgence, the Kekri pamphlet reads. Kekri is part harvest feast festival and part Lutheran All Saints Day. The souls of the dead are returning, if these shades ever left us. […] Read More

ELLIPSE

I’ve been in Finland for a year. One loop around the sun. An ellipse, or maybe an ellipsis. When we arrived, I thought we could rest. I didn’t think we would keep moving […] Read More

WIRE

It happened so fast, I wonder where my eyes went. To the mast? To the boat below us? To the boat above us? We were pinned between them, just above the start line. I saw something silver sparkle.[…] Read More

LOESS

Loess (from the German: Löss [lœs]) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. At 5 am on Saturday, 12/12/2020, I woke to a stinging sensation […] Read More

COORDINATES

I’ve been thinking about the journey. I was laid off in March. We gave up our rental house and packed in a week. I carefully wrapped Grandma’s china in the pages I tore out of Lonely Planet’s ‘Best in Travel 2020.’ […] Read More

PATIENCE

My most pressing concern this morning is the small frog captured under the glass part of Rachel’s smoothie maker beside the radiator in the kitchen. It all started a few nights ago,  when I was sitting at the kitchen table […] Read More

KITTENS

I’ve been thinking of late of something I forgot. I have forgotten what it feels like to be a child. To curl up on the cushion on top of the turf box, oblivious to everything around me. […] Read More

GRANDPA

I have an oil painting that my grandpa brought home as a souvenir. Entitled “Kabul,” it depicts a marketplace in colors that were once vibrant but have since mellowed with age into soft blues […] Read More

BUNGALOW

The Summer began, as these things do, innocently enough. And ended, as these things often do, unexpectedly. The Family needed two nannies with perfect English, flawless academic pedigrees, and a rigorous appetite for […] Read More

GORILLA

A Gorilla Escaped the Zoo Barrier. In 2 days, I drove 2,000 miles to help a friend, following a medical emergency. El Paso, Texas to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

This is what I saw. Read More

VICISSITUDE

As I gathered my personal things — all the little inconsequential things — I came to the realization that there was a “her”. She. Did She know about me? I doubt it. I was appalled to discover […] Read More

BRASSIERE

The river emptied into the Gulf of Thailand and muddied the turquoise waters into a sullen blue. Seashells mingled with bits of toothbrushes and other plastics, and a flip flop awaited, forlorn, the return of its partner.[…] Read More

DISSONANCE

Trying as I did to extricate myself from his grasp, I couldn’t. Soon I was on the bed with him on top of me and his hands pulling off my underwear. I decided to just stop fighting, get it over with. We would talk afterward. […] Read More

IMPASSE

My spin instructor played George Michael in class, which brought back an intense memory. During college, the big-haired nursing students blasted the “Faith” album as they got dressed for their 8 am class. […] Read More

SILENCE

Dear my 17-year-old self,
If only someone had taught you to identify the sound of a condom wrapper in the dark.
Recognizing the sound — that specific sound — might have prepared you for what happened next. Read More

VALEDICTION

Speech has asked to take a break from me, while I plead like a lovesick co-ed for it to stay. This breakup is happening as my devoted mother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Like, I admit […] Read More

HOMESTEADER

Columbus, Montana
April 15, 1914,

Dear Aunt and Uncle,
We red’d your welcome letter Sun and I will try and answer it now so I can send it the first chance I get. It is eight miles to the mail box. What do you think of that. Read More

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NEWSLETTER

Nushu Voices has a free monthly digest of stories.