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Closing Time (inspired by a Semisonic song we aren’t quoting for copyright reasons)
By Stuart Phillips Editor’s note: It’s been 5 years and just over a week since I published the first story here at Reckon, “Country Roads” by Stuart Phillips, so it feels particularly fitting that Stuart is sharing his thoughts with us this week. Back then I wasn’t sure that anyone wanted to read stories about…
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ARTFUL ACADEMICS: The Bees’ Needs
By Brandy Renee McCann Have you closely watched bees working summer flowers? In my backyard, tiny, fragrant goldenrod flowers unfold in clusters along arched stems, swaying and bending amongst tall burgundy-tinged mugwort and a rainbow of zinnias. Pollinators—little bees, big bees, and butterflies of all kinds—blossom hop amongst the golden florets, sometimes pausing to nap,…
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THE FIRST TRAIN OUT | Creative Nonfiction by Cindy Sams
A girl rides west toward a new stepfather, a yellow bedroom, and a life she hadn’t asked for. June 1972 The train pulled out of the station in New Orleans at dawn and headed west over Lake Pontchartrain on a long stretch of track that led to Benson, Arizona. Our new home. At least for…
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I THINK I’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE | Creative Nonfiction by Katrina Ralbag
It was 98 degrees with 90% humidity, and my thighs were sweating through a beige knee-length pencil skirt. He had to choose yesterday to kill himself, in the middle of summer, during a pandemic. It felt like a final fuck you. One last gag from a man who’d always had a dark sense of timing.…
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MUSINGS FROM NATURE: Learning to Breathe | by Susan Schirl Smith
The woods have a unique quiet. A silence, almost, but for the sounds of the whispering leaves as the wind caresses their surfaces. An occasional birdsong creates melody with the sounds of the breeze. My feet crunching softly on the dirt path are rhythmic, patterned, meditative. The light— chiaroscuro, a fractal sun dancing on leaves…
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UNEARTHING OUR ANCESTORS: An Interview with Jeremy B. Jones | by Jessica Cory
Jeremy B. Jones’ most recent work Cipher: Decoding My Ancestor’s Scandalous Secret Diaries will come out in September 2025 with Blair Publishers. Cipher follows Jeremy’s fourth great-grandfather’s encoded writings while simultaneously grappling with the author’s own role in his family, particularly as a parent. This book offers a raw, honest look at the role of…
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MAYBE PARALLEL UNIVERSE ME WAS BORN WITHOUT A CLEFT PALATE | Creative Nonfiction by Sage Tyrtle
Maybe her philtrum is intact. The skin between her nose and lip a gentle slope, leading to a rosebud smile. She could have nursed from her mother’s plump breast with a strong suck, no whistling holes in her cat’s mouth. At school, perhaps Dawn held hands with her at recess instead of luring her into…
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CONTENT WARNING: Triggers in Creative Nonfiction | By Olga Katsovskiy
A large sign at the entrance of an ancient Egyptian gallery at the museum warns viewers of mummified human remains enclosed in a sarcophagus in the next room and suggests an alternate route to bypass the “triggering” mummy. It reminds me of trigger warnings; how quick they are to label a story before the reader…
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WANDA, BRIEFLY | Creative Nonfiction by Amanda Ashworth
Editor’s note: This story reads more like a folk tale than creative nonfiction, even with the beginning sentence stating that it’s a true story. However, one section of Amanda’s cover letter brought everything together in a way that we felt was important. We also didn’t want to interrupt the flow of Amanda’s writing and ask…
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FEBRUARY, 44 | Creative Nonfiction by Melissa Flores Anderson
The week you died, before I knew you were dying, a black blur crossed my path in the cold, still morning. The creature paused to look back at me, a dog with no owner in sight. As I jogged closer, a narrow snout and a lack of collar signaled it might not be domesticated. The…