by Tom Hofmann

About six years had passed before I began to write about electroconvulsive therapy. I had thought about the procedure in the intervening years, but I hadn’t pulled the parts together. To do so would require acknowledging that it had occurred. It was real, despite my wishes to the contrary, and writing about it would require an in-depth investigation of its causes and effects. The task, I knew, demanded a substantial investment of time and energy. I also knew that I couldn’t move forward without such a confrontation. What follows is an excerpt from that examination. (read on…)

by Judith Ennamorato

As a child she could will them to materialize simply by closing her large hazel eyes for a couple of minutes and believing: truly believing. That appeared to be the key…true belief as opposed to ‘pretend’ belief.

(read on…)

by Laura C. Alonso

Third time that day, he was on me. On me like bees to a flower (or flies on shit, he’d correct me, no doubt). Sucking sweet nectar and breathing that breath — damn that breath –’round my head, in my ear, pestering, bugging, like a bee he annoyed me.

But I knew not to swat him away. (read on…)