The bus buzzes lightly
with noise and chatter, 
the sun shining hotly through the window, 
and the AC too cold on our faces. 
We wait patiently for the rest of the party to return. 
It has been a long day for me, sitting in the heat. 
I have watched him cautiously, 
knowing that a second too long would suggest something
other than the interest I had. 
Blue-eyed and gentle, I pictured him 
walking on the bus and pushing by me. 
“Hello,” I would say. 
“You looked good out there today.” 
And I could feel the blush on my cheeks, my nose,
even just thinking of speaking to him. 
“Thanks,” He’d answer and then, oh, that smile. 
That smile of joy and straight teeth, caused by me. 
Caused by me talking to him, by his seeing me. 
Anxiously I wait, ignoring the loudness of the bus, 
thoughts buzzing like angry bees while he and the others 
slowly climb aboard, tall and confident. 
I’m going to do it this time, 
I tell myself. 
All you have to do is smile and say hello. 
And the girls beside me are smiling in anticipation
for they know, too, how badly I’ve wanted this. 
They know any second, as he comes closer and closer, 
that I will fall or rise to the occasion at hand. 
And he’s here now, sweetly in front of me and the plan 
surges forward like a wave in my chest. 
The words are flipping at the tip of my mouth:
Hello, great job, hello, hello. 
But just when they’re about to spill forth, 
my throat is blocked by a knot of what-ifs. 
What if he doesn’t like me? What if things go wrong?
The blush burns angrily instead of prettily 
as he keeps walking by me.
The girls wilt with disappointment and I hang my head. 
He’s sitting in the back row and now, 
my chance is gone.

---

Author:

Howdy! Karlie is a sophomore at Morningside. She is currently majoring in History and Political Science with an English minor. Her favorite show is Rick and Morty.

Artist:

My name is Jessie Eighmy and I’m from Glidden, Iowa. I’m a freshman on the X-Path, currently exploring Psychology and Nursing.

1
Customer glaring,
I did not hear his order.
Just nod and smile.

2
“Stop bleeding,” he says,
as if the pain is my fault.
His love holds the knife.

---

Author:

Kassidy is a sophomore majoring in Secondary English Education and minoring in Journalism. She loves writing and hopes to inspire her future students!

Artist:

I am Rachel Steinkamp from Arcadia, Iowa. I’m a freshman studying Photography and Graphic Design. I have always loved art and expressing emotions through my work.

Tracie Tuttle is a senior majoring in studio art and minoring in graphic design and journalism. She is involved with the Collegian Reporter and Art Club.

My mother is a phoenix. 
In the time preceding her divorce she was slowly desecrating. Pieces of her loving personality
would flake off and expose her inner anger. 
She became the type of woman who could break someone with well-timed words, and the person
she chose to break was me, 
as it is hard to see someone younger and successful when you yourself are stuck. 
A loveless marriage, a lifeless existence, and a hatred of one’s self chipping away what’s left of a
good heart. 
I was 14 when my mother told everyone who would listen that I was going to fail at everything I
would try to do in life. 
Nonchalantly smoking a cigarette on our porch as she dropped my heart, along with her cigarette
butt, into the trash. 
The full fall to ash took about four years after she took her anger out on me that day. 
My father took flight, never to return. 
He saw the opportunity to soar to a place that would warm his heart. Three years following his
departure, my mother continued to wither away. 
She starved, smoked, and folded herself away to nothing. The smoldering remains of what used
to be. 
From the ash she continues to pick off the good from those who love her, building up to a slow
rebirth. 
I can feel myself grow cold as she kindles her rebirth. 
I fear that it is a never-ending cycle.

---

Author:

Alexi Malatare: To write drunk and edit sober was the best advice I could have ever gotten as a scared freshman. Thank you Dr. Coyne.

Artist:

 I am a Junior at Morningside College. I am a double major in graphic design and marketing with a photography minor. I love nature, fishing, and my cats.