What’s Better Left Unsaid
Dream Colors by Debberona Begaye of Navajo Technical University
And one day she was sure she’d come to love her baby too. It was a bit of cosmic mercy in the midst of hell.
Fiction
Student 2018
Writing Contest Honorable Mentions
Turtle Mountain Blessing
Mo by Moriah Thompson of Sitting Bull College
As the evening star appeared, the despair that she’d kept locked in a fist grip behind her moved in close, as if the tiny light had beckoned it forward.
Dead Squirrel Theatre
Nature Wheels by Madeline Lamb of College of the Muscogee Nation
My friend Jon and I were in one of our moods of being destructive little men wreaking havoc on the small town of Ontonagon.
A Visit from Grandma
Morning Blessing by Lathan Pablo of Navajo Technical University
There was a strange but familiar smell, it was a mixture of musky perfume, sage, and beef soup. I knew for sure who it was in my kitchen, and it wasn’t a burglar, it was my Grandma.
Live How You Wish
Mohawk by Patrick Bednark of the Institute of American Indian Arts
After a time his anger and embarrassment turned to a melancholic blanket of regret. He now wanted to find relief from his actions more than an explanation for them.
Down and Out in Pueblo
Grunge by Megan Thompson of Dine' College
He was just an escapee from the border town of El Chuco, working a shit job in a shit hole, passing through on his way to tomorrow.
Floyd’s Thankful Tree
Super Moon by Penelope Seitler of Sinte Gleska University
Beeeeeeeeeep! “Hey! Watch where you’re going!” I was awake, but between the tears clouding my vision and the sorrow drenching my heart, I didn’t notice I’d drifted into the next lane. It was one day until my son’s birthday and …
Gathering
Dakota Floral by Avis Charley of the Institute of American Indian Arts
Thump! Thump! Thump! I tossed around like a fish out of water trying to fall back asleep. Thump! Thump! Thump! Ugh, what in the heck is that? I pedaled my feet back and forth trying to find the edge of …
Dragging Through Time
Girl Butterfly Flowers by Fannie Lockwood of Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College
Chaske’s (first born son) ina (mother) knew he was different from the time he could open her tubes of lipstick and eat the vermillion colored wax. She considered him a natural as he would drape her blue fringed shawl over …
Just Dessert
Blue-Lodge-by-Leila-Finley-of-Salish-Kootenai-College
On the way into town, spring tumbles across your face through the open windows of the turquoise Ford pickup. Mom sits beside Dad conquering the two lane, beer gut tucked under the wheel gripped precisely at 10 and 2 o’clock. …