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In the event it became necessary to start the new origin of life, we observed the machine. To disguise the machine, we filled the aboveground area (the machine was of course built underground), an otherwise abandoned field, with three hundred sky-blue dumpsters. The dumpsters were not dumpsters of refuse, butContinue Reading

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Tanning season begins in late January. The first days of midterm break are dedicated to studying forecasts. Risks are analyzed. Gas money is produced. Stories are straightened. Lies are told. The locals have not yet shed their winter suits. The sand is warm at mid-day. We bury our feet andContinue Reading

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A. This is the suicide note of Cinderella of Phantásien. Imprisoned within this note, like the unopenable rebenok in a matryoshka doll, is a true story—with a true title: Therapeutic Fantasy Epic. I toyed with different titles, such as Visions of Hyperborea—and throwaways: Too Bitter and Impatient to Write, AnotherContinue Reading

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Long ago, the Universe expanded. A vast swirling chaos. The Star was pure light and heat, radiating into the nothingness around it. It gathered bits of all the elements into itself. It consumed and burned and illuminated. The light of other stars blinked at it from far away. The StarContinue Reading

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All creatures make calculations to survive. Ants calculate the amount of food that needs to be stored for the colony to survive the winter. Squirrels calculate advanced trajectory as they leap from tree to tree. They don’t teach their young to make advanced calculations, they just do it. Humans needContinue Reading

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Life begins, When one decides to live, After stumbling around, Day-lit paths, As a drone, In motion, Speaking only survival. That conscious choice, To wrest control, Of dwelling places, Reframe the time canvas, Start one’s heart, With a catalystic spark, Uncapping skin vessels, To the pouring of passions. The emergenceContinue Reading

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The lipstick was gross. Sticky yet dry, a bitter wax in ‘Fire Engine Red.’ It was orange. I was an expert on Orange thanks to my gang on The Street. Grover and John-John did a side by side analysis of red to orange just this morning. The lipstick was orange.Continue Reading

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Roger Camp is the author of three photography books including the award-winning Butterflies in Flight (Thames & Hudson, 2002) and Heat (Charta, Milano, 2008). His work has appeared in numerous journals including The New England Review, New York Quarterly, and the Vassar Review. He previously worked as a reference librarianContinue Reading

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There they were, finally, with a small sense of security. Approaching happiness, even, they sometimes ventured in cautious introspection. Yes, that. Incredible, after everything that happened. They shook their head, not wishing to dwell on the past. They looked up and tracked a large bird sailing east above the trees.Continue Reading