Nonfiction Commons^™

Lights Out, Thelma De Boer

Manuscripts

One night two lightning bugs were resting on the same twig. The first lightning bug introduced himself and started the conversation.

The Feel Of The Soil, Norma Jackson

Manuscripts

When we arose, the sun had not yet begun to send its warmth through the rich brown earth of this southern Indiana farm. However, we were to plant potatoes and had a big day ahead. Soon the equipment was ready, and off I ran beside the horses, loving every particle of soft, red dust that played between the toes of my bare, brown feet. The road to the field was covered with this powdery, fine dust. It was my childhood obsession to make footprints, handprints, and pictures in it.

Woodland, Northern Michigan, John Bundy

Manuscripts

Illustration by John Bundy courtesy of the John Herron Art Museum.

Landscape, Willard L. Metcalf

Manuscripts

Illustration by Willard L. Metcalf courtesy of the John Herron Art Museum.

Rhapsodically Speaking, Alice Jean Fisher

Manuscripts

Like timid pizzicatos riding a sustained legato, the cricket sounds outside my window are cradling themselves in the fused night noises. Rising in gentle crescendos above them are waves of wind; now they waken the leaves; soft bits of breeze sift through screen and curtain to move a curl across my cheek - shyly, like a child fearfully touching a dog; and shyly too, retire till the now tremulous vibrato of the crickets plays the nocturnal solo once more. The wind mounts again. It throbs against these brick walls; rudely musses my hair, disturbing my thoughts; the sleeper on the …

Gardenia Memories, R. Gordon Moores

Manuscripts

A dazzling stream of golden morning sunlight slants between claret coloured drapes to touch three gardenias on a mahogany dressing table.

The Forbidden Fruit, Catherine Cunningham

Manuscripts

There are few people who have not known the thrill of "tasting the forbidden fruit." The desire to indulge in this exciting adventure is usually at its height when one is about fourteen, at least, in my experience it was especially pressing at that age. One of the "fruits" forbidden by my father and mother was flying; so, quite naturally, I began to "scout around" for someone to take me up. My father had always said that he would never fly until it was absolutely necessary, and mother argued that as far as she was concerned it would never be …

Combat, Jack Retherford

Manuscripts

The place was a small clearing in a forest in British Columbia. The contenders were two buck deer of about the same build, but one was younger than the other. The time was early morning, and the prize at stake was a herd of four does.

Marbles, Ione Colligan

Manuscripts

Jerry thought a moment. Then "I can't remember any memory verse from last Thunday. If I'm not absent any Thunday this quarter, will I get a bag of marbles?"

Trite, Alfred Brown

Manuscripts

"Everything is trite; nothing is new." Such is the expression of opinion I have heard in regard to all written and spoken thought - barring science. Who told that to me? Was it Miss Beuret? Have I heard it or read it from some other source? Never mind, the opinion probably is true.

The Sisters, Jeanne Gass

Manuscripts

"Kathy! Kathy! There's horses down there. Right down there by the river!" Pete came running, red pig-tails flying. Her old brown coat was slipping off one shoulder, her rolled stockings were drooping, and she was breathless with running and the excitement of her news. "There're right down there."

Two Poems, Mary Wiley

Manuscripts

Two poems: "Realism" and "Finale."

Favorites --- I Hate Them, Isadore Camhi

Manuscripts

It's a natural and very common prejudice, I think. Possibly you foster the same one. In me, however, it amounts to an obsession, a supreme dislike for -- favorites. It doesn't matter what kind of favorite it may be; a favorite book, a well-known actor, a famous food, a highly-touted athlete, or possibly even a favorite teacher. I'm against all of them -- before I know exactly why.

Aesthetic Pleasure, Betty Murnan

Manuscripts

Kitty looked skeptically at the tall soda glass in her left hand. It wasn't too shiny, so she dropped it into the dish water - not that she was particular - but sodas were her specialty. There was nothing she liked better than watching a soda bubble up in a tall glass. She took another glass from the shelf behind her, jerked just the right amount of chocolate syrup into it, tipped it sideways, and ran a thin, hard stream of carbonated water clear around the edge of the syrup until it bubbled nearly up to the rim of the …

Winter In The Forest, Dalecarlia, Anshelm Schultzberg

Manuscripts

Illustration by Anshelm Schultzberg courtesy of the John Herron Art Museum.

The Crest, Edward N. Redfield

Manuscripts

Illustration by Edward N. Redfield courtesy of the John Herron Art Museum.

Educating For Democracy, Fred W. Michel

Manuscripts

Education in a democracy must of necessity be of a type which will perpetuate that democracy. This being true, our problem automatically resolves itself into the discussion of three questions: What is education? What is democracy? What elements must be present in the ideal educational system which will further the democracy that nourishes it?

Question On A Street-Car, Jack Kilgore

Manuscripts

"What do tired-eyed people live for?

They seem to have no joy."

"They have their joys the same as we;

Be silent, little boy."

Prophecy, Joan Fuller

Manuscripts

It was in the days of the great wars when tyrants and despots were conquering the world and all peoples were ground into the earth. And it happened that signs and portents of disaster began to be apparent in all places. There were storms upon the sun and great spots, and on the earth explosions and eruptions of mountains and risings of the sea in great waves and many storms on sea and on land. And at that time prophets began to arise, Jews and Gentiles, old men and young, and women And they all began to prophesy the end …

Editorial

Manuscripts

Editorial from Manuscripts staff about the publication of Manuscripts and the declaration of war against Japan.