Creative Writing Commons^™

Waiting, Alexis Brown

The Tuxedo Archives

“Thinking about someone special?” a young woman with big round brown hazel eyes asked me as I sat waiting for my time to come. I didn’t really have anything else to think about while I sat on the old moldy looking chair inside the 36B Airport Terminal. All I could replay in my mind was the thought of my wife smiling at me when I finally got home. That is, if I ever got home. ~excerpt from short story

Gunman Slays 4 At Texas Church, Then Kills Self, Alexis Brown

The Tuxedo Archives

They were laughing at me, I knew it. I brushed the sweat off of my brow and looked forward at the tall looming steeple that had haunted my dreams for the better part of a year. I could see their false angelic faces staring back at me, mocking me, waiting to see if I would complete my mission. ~excerpt from short story

Winter Wings, Jennifer Jensen

The Tuxedo Archives

Aideen’s eyes glowed with envy as she watched her older sister Fia dance the Burning Dance in the center of the circle. Fia’s hair was a drifting mass of golden tendrils, and her thin, graceful limbs writhed in perfect unison with the movements of the flames. ~excerpt from short story

Jack In The Box, Laura L. Reiche

The Tuxedo Archives

Behold the bloodless puppet rising
out a cheap quadrangular man-hole.
Fluorescent mandarin hair forming
a deceptive heart around alabaster skin,
framing his daisy petal eyes, his pink colossal nose,
and boomerang mouth.

~excerpt from poem

Doors, Laura L. Reiche

The Tuxedo Archives

Staunch sentries of decision

gloating and imposing

tempting and untrustworthy. ~excerpt from poem

Dragon 04, Jennifer Jensen

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Dragon 03, Jennifer Jensen

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Dragon 01, Jennifer Jensen

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

The White Light, Michael White

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Blue Man, Michael White

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Blue Embrace, Michael White

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Bag End, Claire Munzer

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Wesley Sun Interview, Chad Novotny

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Bio: BA, 2004, Stetson University, DeLand, Florida; M.Div, 2008, The University of Chicago. Both Wesley Sun and his brother (Brad Sun) were born and raised in Orlando, Florida, by their parents who are Chinese immigrants from Malaysia. Wesley serves as the Director of Field Education and Community Engagement at the University of Chicago Divinity School and is a volunteer chaplain at Cook County Jail. He also does creative writing for graphic novels that both he and his brother have collaborated on. His completed graphic novels include: Chinatown, Apocalypse Man, and Monkey Fist. Eisegesis: Kings + Queens is expected to be …

Untitled, Anonymous Author

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Unititled, Anonymous Author

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Untitled, Anonymous Author

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Untitled, Anonymous Author

The Tuxedo Archives

No abstract provided.

Apples Decay, Lauren Rigor

The Tuxedo Archives

The following article was taken from the last issue of The Summerland Courier, a major newspaper published in Summerland, a city located twenty miles outside Avalon across the Lake. It was found at the bottom of the newspaper’s regional section.

Tea Party, Julia Van Der Ryn

The Tuxedo Archives

It was 1966 and I was seven years old. We lived in Berkeley, California. I was dressed up for a birthday party. I had on a white dress with frills around the sleeves and the hem. My white socks were ringed at the top with a thin strip of lace. I had folded them down so that the lace neatly encircled my ankle, right above my black patent-leather mary janes. I even had on my best underwear that had fringes of lace all across the bottom.

My parents were driving me to the party. They said that we would leave …

Falling, Kerri Kor

The Tuxedo Archives

True autumn doesn’t come with a date on a calendar; it comes with a change in the air, a certain quality of light, the heightened busy-work of birds and squirrels, the deepening of nature’s colors. And it comes for each person, early in the new academic year, when the buzz of human concerns crashes head-on with the ancient rites of transition. Groans and grumbles and added stress change in that moment of messy glorious perfection when we are once more reduced to parts of the whole and the illusion of control gives way to Reality. Will you recognize it when …

Caberet Girl, Kathryn Frazell

The Tuxedo Archives

A woman stepped into the crowded and lively entrance of the banquet hall. She was wearing a knee-length white coat. That should have been the first clue, that she wasn’t wearing tights or leggings of any kind. All you could see was bare leg. The black, slinky dress left no surprise as to the curves of her body. Her hair was raven black, cut in a chic bob, and her neck was adorned with pearls. Kohl covered her eyelids, and the lips were stained cherry red. She was the image of jazz and cabaret. ~ excerpt from the short story

Let The Walls Have Their Say, Kathryn Mcginness

The Tuxedo Archives

She’s a beautiful girl. Near-strangers tell her this on a regular basis. I’d tell her, too, but I don’t like giving things to people who don’t appreciate them. ~excerpt from the short story

Moths, Crystal Smith

The Tuxedo Archives

The thick air held still in the hot August evening.

Angela and her family were at their neighbor’s house—mostly because they liked the pool they had in their backyard more than they liked their actual neighbors. But her parents were busy schmoozing over beer and barbeque, leaving Angela to play peacemaker among the children—her younger brother, Joe, 10 years of age, and Wesley McArthur, 8 years old. They were best friends and arch rivals, despite their age difference. They especially needed to be watched when they started rough-housing. Angela sighed under the outdoor light, trying to quickly complete reading Catcher …

Feel No More, Natalie Padilla

The Tuxedo Archives

I can feel the prickle of the grass

And the cold, desolate ground beneath me

My body is weak as I struggle to wake

For I feel your presence surround me

A blade of grass comes into view

I tilt my head towards the blazing sky

Where the clouds cradle me with warmth ~excerpt

Cup Of Tea, Paula Garcia

The Tuxedo Archives

“Such a beautiful photograph,” she marvels

As she sits down where I used to lie.

You look at the picture as she asks you who I am.

For what seems like an eternity in your mind

You plead with God to help you mask the clouds

That are now thundering about in your head.

“Just an old friend,” you reply coolly,

After an uncomfortable second.

~ poem excerpt ~

Mer-Me, Jennifer Jensen

The Tuxedo Archives

Illustration

Leopard Print, Jennifer Jensen

The Tuxedo Archives

Illustration.

Housewife's Heart, Jennifer Jensen

The Tuxedo Archives

Illustration - social commentary

Semester, Ryan Kuhn, Michael White

The Tuxedo Archives

Cartoon

Fourth Of July, Ryan Kuhn, Michael White

The Tuxedo Archives

Comic with socio-political commentary