Long Way Home

by Shaindel Beers

Over the past month Paul had been saying things that appalled her, and she had started calling them “A-Paulings” to her friends. Today, on the bus, they had sat across from a woman in her early twenties who had two young children who giggled when Trina stuck her tongue out and made faces, but Paul seemed affronted. “She probably doesn’t know any better,” he whispered. “Know any better?” “Having two kids at her age when she obviously doesn’t have money; you shouldn’t encourage it - stop - now.” She reached up for the cord; this was her stop now.

6S

Shaindel Beers's poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Most recently, her poem "Rewind" won first place in the general division of the Dylan Days poetry contest, honoring Bob Dylan, in his boyhood town of Hibbing, MN. Current work can be found online at The Apple Valley Review, Projected Letters, and Ignavia Press. Shaindel teaches at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, Oregon, and is the Poetry Editor of Contrary.