After reading the unbelievable message on her screen to Dr. Vidal, Katy sat silently contemplating the message’s significance for a few minutes. “We are not alone,” she repeated as she stared at the screen. …

Katy stared at the computer monitor in stunned silence. The message displayed was monumental, something that would forever change humanity. A month ago, she was selected as the director of a joint U.S. Cyber and Space Command surveillance team tasked with analyzing Chinese space-based communications satellites utilizing quantum computing codes…

Standing atop the castle wall, young Balian saw the ominous signs of black flags rapidly approaching from the distance. Recently, his vivid dreams had foreshadowed the sight of the black flags. Balian did not know that the black flags represented barbaric evil and extinction for him and the people of…

My brother and I never met our grandfather; however, we share a common bond of sorrow and pride that crosses many intersections in time and space. The story begins in Brooklyn, New York, and travels worldwide to Asia and the Middle East. Growing up in our grandmother’s home in Brooklyn…

It was a cold, snow-covered night, and I was alone tied to a light pole by my suspenders. I was the new kid at Andrus Children’s Home, and I was the unfortunate victim of childhood bullying at the hands of the older boys who lived there. Looking back at that…

I wrote this essay and submitted it to the Writer’s Digest 2019 Competition. Surprisingly, I won 8th place in the Memoir/Personal Essay Category. This story is dedicated to all those who served. However, I wanted to honor those veterans who passed on their wisdom to the younger generation of veterans…

by Chad M. Pillai

Amidst the ruins of the city, the poverty, the fear, and the despair of war; there was one boy unique among them all. …

Every so often, I think back to my time to the castle in the Iraqi City of Tal’Afar. Tal’Afar is a small city that strides along the route between the city of Mosul to the East and the Syrian Border to the West. It is a unique place for someone…