I am an oak tree. I have been in this yard and protecting this family for many, many generations. The youngest of the current generation under my care is a girl, Emmy, who has the biggest heart. She is not like her nasty mother, Judy, at all. Judy, despite her small stature, was an evil thing. Great harm was left in areas she'd been in, and I had to sacrifice more branches than I care to admit to prevent her from harming small animals. Still, I let her swing upon my branches

The day I was born in April 1977, floodwater covered the Appalachian Mountains of East Tennessee. I was the fourth of eight children born to my young mother, Kaye. Within two weeks, she handed me to her sister and brother-in-law, Ruth and Otis. It was one of the best decisions she ever made. My aunt and uncle adopted me, and from then on, I was loved beyond measure. They spoiled me, taught me lessons I would only understand years later, and filled my childhood with abundance

The man I met in the woods took the wrong parent.  It’s the kind of realization that comes in a lapping wave. I’ve just gotten my feet wet in the thought when the tide rips me under. Then, all at once, it soaks me to the bone.  A scream lodges in my throat as I take in my family’s gutted parlor. My bookbag slides to the floor with an ungraceful thud . It’s all so sudden, I feel like I’ve been kicked in the chest. Something wraps around my heart in a quick loop, feeling like

A Short Story by Shuvam Kabir The lawn had gone all to hell. Like the finger of God had carved a green swath through it. But it wasn’t...