Story Excerpts
by Catriona McPherson
“Keep your eyes ha-ha . . . Keep your eyes hee-hee . . . Keep your eyes on something that’s not moving.” Thom, the new yoga instructor, stood in the middle of the circle on one leg, with his other heel wedged high into his crotch, his knee bent like a hairpin, both his arms straight up in the air like he was helping to land a plane, yucking it up like he always did. Keep your eyes on me, he meant, standing there like a cactus in a national park, like a rock formation in . . . another national park, like a statue. To aid your balance, ladies, keep your eyes on me. READ MORE
by Persia Walker
In Harlem, even the shadows have secrets. Beneath the glitz and the glamor, souls grapple with jealousy and greed. Loyalties shift like sand, and alliances shatter like glass.
This is my beat, where dreams crash and lives crumble. Where trusting hearts are betrayed, truth is pitted against passion, and morality against ambition. The lines between good and evil are often blurred by fear and desperation. Only fools think otherwise.
The wind whispered through the barren trees on that rainy October night, their branches swaying like skeletal fingers reaching for the stars. As I hurried to the Bennett Art Gallery on West 123rd Street, I had no idea I was stepping into a portrait where every face hid a lie. READ MORE