April 2024 – Hayden Coombs

Virginia

It was a clear, crisp night in Cedar City, the kind that Southern Utah is known for. The sky was a blanket of stars, the air was cold enough to bite through the uniform, and the campus of Southern Utah University was unusually quiet. As an officer fresh out of the academy, still carrying theContinue reading “Virginia”

Whispers in the Pines

I grew up in the heart of Oregon’s Willamette Valley, where the air is thick with mist and the scent of damp earth clings to everything. The early 2000s were a strange time—an era saturated with ghost hunting shows, urban legends, and a growing fascination with the supernatural. For most people, these stories were justContinue reading “Whispers in the Pines”

The Shadow

The night was a blur of laughter, snacks, and the muted glow of a TV screen as my best friend and I indulged in a sleepover. We were typical teenagers—14 or 15 years old—who often found ourselves on the edge of trouble but always managed to stay just this side of innocent mischief. That night,Continue reading “The Shadow”

In Madness, Truth

When shadows fall, my mind begins to fray,A tempest fierce within me starts to rise.In anxious clouds, my light is swept away,And with it, truth beneath the quiet lies. In these dark times, I feel my truest core,Unveiled by sorrow, raw, and bare to see.Yet when I mend, they seem to shut the door,For ’tisContinue reading “In Madness, Truth”

Silent Visitor

It was the kind of night that seemed almost timeless. The house was quiet, the only sound coming from the rhythmic breathing of my wife, who lay peacefully asleep beside me. Outside, the world was still, wrapped in the dense hush that comes in the early hours between 2 and 4 a.m. Throughout my entireContinue reading “Silent Visitor”