Be advised that the content in this story contains self-harm and suicide, and may be triggering to some readers.    My mom cried when she saw the scars littering my arms and stomach for the...

Hundreds of people cram into the small, humid Granada Theater in central Dallas after standing outside in the blazing Texas heat for hours on end. I’m next to all the other teenage girls packed together...

“If you don’t convert to God, you’ll be sent to hell after you die.” Religion had never played a big role in my life until I was told this at age 11. From my knowledge of horror movies and those...

One of my favorite memories of my childhood was when my mom and I used to go every other weekend to a small frozen yogurt shop. Just the two of us would drive to the shop when it first opened to beat the...

  Eraser crumbs covered the desk. I stared down at my tear soaked paper and the empty spaces I couldn’t fill. Everyone in my second grade class had finished their work and gone to lunch, but...

Editor's note: This story won first place for personal column in the 2023 ILPC contest. It also won a 2023 Tops in Texas.  Resting at the bottom of a box buried below an old preppy school uniform and...

“Euphoria” has garnered nine Emmys, WAP was number one on the Global Billboard 200 for three weeks, and “Do Revenge” was on Netflixs’ top 10 movies for 15 days. These are all connected by one...

The more my eyes scan the bustling streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh, the more I don’t feel like I’m returning home. I pass buildings, houses I’ve visited, the hospital I was born in, but the fleeting...

“Mom!”   My screams and sobs echoed through the airport security line.   “I don't want to go. Please let me stay.”   I became more desperate as I got closer to...

Rita Isbell turns on the TV. As she scrolls through the endless options of Netflix’s catalogs of k-dramas and knock-off horror sequels, she comes across a new show about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. The...

The tiny girl pranced through the library’s glass doors hand in hand with her father. She gazed up at him with her giant eyes, and he smiled back down at her. Pure joy reflected in her features, too.  I...

Sobbing, she rushed back into the classroom of my old school. It was the uncontrollable kind, the kind where you can’t even get a word out. Catching her breath, she was finally able to answer my question. “What...