6. cleveland He dreamed of being a rockstar. Ever since his parents put a guitar in his hands on his seventh birthday, he wanted to know all there was to know about how to compose music. In middle school he was shunned by his teachers for being too "out there," too focused on his passions. Later, he would hate himself for more complex reasons that still stemmed from that flaw embedded in him. He studied, only because he was told he had to. High school came around and he kept playing, except now, he was stupid enough to write his own lyrics. They were middling anthems about sex (he wasn't get any), drugs (a toke on a joint at a party once gave him the authority to write about high times), and rock 'n roll (he preferred alternative, technically). He kept these in a journal his father bought him when his mother ran away with a younger man named Tim. This was grade nine. His father told him she was dead. When he found out the truth years later as an adult he decided he ...

  5. chicago Everyone remembers the day The Bean hatched. The photo is dated 2016, roughly thirty years before the Hatching took place. Many millions of photos had been taken before this one, and many millions more had been taken after. But this one is special. This one harbors the secret of why the Hatching took place at all. Scientists have pored over this photo for years; government officials had kept it redacted until the Carson Case blew everything wide open. This was in 2035. Since then, internet warriors have dissected every single pixel of that frame to the enth degree. Theories couldn't stop popping up fast enough. Every person who took it upon themselves to figure out the secret of The Hatching thought they had the answer—thought they could win their chance at notoriety, at political sway. None prevailed. Instead, theories were debunked almost as quickly as that first round of ideas mounted. "The clouds in the sky reveal this.." some theories suggested. Others p...

  4. mississauga Something strange happened to me today. It happened when I was walking home from work. I say "work" but what I really mean is one of my side-gigs, a contract job sketching little girls at a birthday party. Her name was Hilary—or was it, Haley? Doesn't matter. What matters is I was in a foul mood. A culmination of weeks, no, months, feeling unfulfilled. I had been supplementing work for nearly sixteen months now that my contract at The Tribune was terminated. I was their resident cartoonist (a word I've come to hate these past few years), pumping out silly five-strip comics for what remained of the paper's readership. Like the major outlets, the Mississauga Tribune migrated to an online platform that utilized all the latest social media outlets. Work came and went depending on the amount of clicks they garnered in a year. I was lucky to nab my position after graduating from the animation program at Sheridan College, with a solid portfolio that ...

  3. toronto "Do you like the band?" "Hm?" Her attention is fixed on the CN Tower. Though shade protects them from the incredible summer heat, her chilly detachment comes from a swelling sense of dissatisfaction. "I said do you like the band? They're kinda shitty." She turns back to the stage: a four piece punk band blisters through a particularly aggressive anthem about teenage rebellion. It's all noise to her, anyway. She doesn't like punk. She doesn't even like the main band he's asked her to see. Press her, and she wouldn't even be able to name three of their songs. But it's a night out. An opportunity to see live music and have a few drinks. A chance to maybe mend things between them, she reasons. "Mack?" Owen says. "Did you hear me?" She can't—the music's loud, but she's still lost in a daze. The tower, so like a needle piercing the clear blue sky, is hypnotizing. She wonders what it would b...

  2. stratford The sound came from deep within City Hall. It rumbled across the street, now nearly empty and silent. Katherine Hays stared out upon the near-Gothic design of the town's main building, wondering if she'd made the right choice. Among Main Street, phantom shops stood decaying against the crumbling architecture of a city once proud and prosperous. Art thrived here. So too did business and commerce— businesses like restaurants and breweries that complimented the artists and bohemian souls that frequented the town of Stratford. Now, those shops stood silent—its people, ghosts. Few citizens remained in Stratford after The Fall. It came swiftly and aggressively, wiping out the entire artisan population in a single blow—first the quake, then the plague that swept through its streets, then its unsustainability in keeping those who survived afloat. Much has been said about The Fall. Theories abound. But few facts have been proven. We do know this: on the morning of July 7t...

  The Figure in the Frame A Flash Fiction Series Years ago in grad school I studied Niagara Falls and its starring role in Henry Hathaway's film Niagara (1953). Alongside Marilyn Monroe, the infamous tourist attraction - known then as a honeymoon capital for newlyweds - captured a sense of passion and danger that captivated audiences (and lovers, apparently). Because I wanted to explore an area of film that aligned with some of my other interests (literature, and more specificially, geography and travel), cinema that placed landscapes front and center immediately captured my attention. I've always been drawn to the kinds of movies that utilize their places as more than just a backdrop - there's a distinct difference between the New York City of Taxi Driver (1976) and The Avengers (2012). Where one exists as a simple canvas upon which an alien invasion threatens the entire world, the other is drawn with particular cinematic techniques (music, colour, sound, editing) that ...

So I am a little late on this, but I wanted to talk about something that is inspiring to me. To fully grasp why this is something I want to talk about, a little back story is needed. 13-14 years ago, my best friend, Andrew Gagnon,  decided to try playing drums one night, and he fell in love with them.  After that he starting taking lessons and practicing on pots pans in his basement.  He did that until he got his own kit.  Since then, his life has been about music.  He constantly learns new techniques and is trying out different genres.  It really isn't hard to see and hear the talent that he has for drumming.  He knew that it was his calling, and has been working towards it for over a decade. He has been involved with bands of all genres, but rock and roll seems to be the sweet spot where he lies. In 2017 he formed a friendship with the guys in Revive the Rose.  At the time, the singer, Andy Colonico, was drumming as well as singing....

This happened to me on the weekend. I've never had a bird land on me before, but it was a great experience. The little bird was so gentle and it honestly touched my heart by how it could trust something much bigger than itself. It was a truely spectacular moment that has stuck with me. It has forsure inspired me to try and connect with nature more in the future. - Cody S