Driving Home from the Doctor
by Dan Portincaso
Artwork by Charlie Fornia

Volume up. Brooooong Thung Thung “How does it feel?”  Sizzzzz. “To finally know.”

“Yeah!” shouted Felix as he propelled through traffic on 290.

Bam Bam Bam, “You are the music – just dance.”  He bobbed his head in time with the electronic song, raving, hand smacking the steering wheel.

The bass dropped through the rhythm and tolled like a bell down his spine. He felt the speeding friction of the tires resonate through the steering wheel. The accelerator trembled under the even pressure of his foot.  He hunched and smiled as his momentum consumed him.

Felix imagined he had reached the edge of space. Illuminated. Effervescent perfection. The moment struck him like an icy comet in the center of his chest, his limbs charged and tingling.  He was at the rim of the galaxy where anything was possible. Everything was going to be okay.  The wait was over.

Another Bullshit Buddha

by Ian Wallace
Artwork by Maya Horton

I’ve been reading a lot about the Buddha.
The curse of rebirth.
So, I’ve been stepping on cockroaches,
kicking puppies and
yelling at my wife,
a lot,
just to get the chance to be
cursed enough
to be reborn
an infinite amount
of times and
have another chance
to talk with you.

 

 

 

 

—

 

 

Dan Portincaso is a writer and educator.  He is an Assistant Professor of English at Waubonsee Community College and teaches composition, fiction, and creative nonfiction writing. He grows and cans his own tomatoes for gravy.

Charlie Fornia is a multimedia artist living in Ocean Shores, WA.  He received his MFA in studio Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2006.  He currently works as a high school Media Arts and Technology teacher.

Ian Wallace writes in a quiet office in North Carolina. He bakes. On a good day, the cat will be near. His work has appeared in Cairn, Cheap Pop, em:me, and Split.