BY ELLIE A. OSBORNE Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgot- ten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12.6–7) It was surprisingly fitting when I finally decided to…

BY TAISHA OSTLER With a canopy of starlight above us, and a warm campfire at our feet, my family listens to the steady resonance of my dad’s story-voice. We are soaking up the last bits of summer in southern Utah at our annual family reunion. At forty-two years old, I am the oldest of five…

BY ELLE PERRY Piano Lessons with Gehrman His loud, Russian accent digs into my ears like a butter knife spreading the wrong way. “Eating is good after piano, don’t you think? Nice thick bread!” He drizzles honey over the top of his slice and takes a bite. “You want? You want honey with your bread?”…

BY ADRIENNE POWELL Batter my heart, three-person’d God, for you As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend; That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, and end Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new. (Donne) It thirteen years old, I came home from dance class crying. Nothing particularly trying…

BY MADELYN TAYLOR Five years before my grandpa died, an employee at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife crashed their tanker truck of approximately 11,000 live Chinook salmon into a power pole in Eugene, Oregon. When the truck rolled, and the shocked, slippery cargo flew into the Mackenzie River Highway—their permanently astonished expressions, for…