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IS IT A FELONY OR JUST A BAD DECISION?

There are a lot of different scenarios. Most of them involve a drink of some kind, and often an illicit substance or two. Or three. Quite possibly it could be a good idea gone bad. Horribly wrong. Then again, maybe it was that affair you’ve been waiting years to have, the right combination of music and eye contact. Hopefully it doesn’t involve losing a major organ.

It is disorientation, a familiar moment in a strange new setting. Groggy and tired, your vision is laced with gauze, your head packed thick with cotton.

Run, run as fast as you can, get out of here now. It isn’t safe. For the love of God RUN.

Wait. Stay. Her eyes are pleading, her mask, believable.

The writers in this issue of Colored Chalk all address this theme in one fashion or another. And whether they are literally waking, living their life as if in a dream, or rubbing their tired orbs in disbelief at what they see, all have one thing in common. The writing is strong, and the moment is alive on the page for you to embrace.

• E!Morphosis by Caleb J. Ross
• An Ice Age by Joe Meno
• We Thought He Was a Terrorist by Joey Goebel
• PanGaea by Alex Cassun
• Chloroform by William T. Allen
• The Passageway by Rayo Casablanca
• Walking Out by Axel Taiari
• The Only Moment We Were Alone by Christopher Dwyer
• The Hole by Craig Wallwork
• She Sleeps Beneath Clouds of Embers by Nik Korpon
• Rate of Exchange by Joe Dornich
• Recycle Time by Jeff Macfee
• The Blind Man and the Newspaper Machine by Richard Martin
• Whiteout by Edward J. Rathke
• One In Six by Chris Deal
• Mirror Ball by Simon West-Bulford

Richard Thomas, Issue 6 editor.

Photography Credits (print version):

• BARIS AZMAN pages 9, 10, 6.
• BARBARA BREITENBACH pages 19, 24, 25, 29.
• CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT pages 30, 31.
• ERIK @ Flickr pages 7, 15.
• JOHNNY C @ Flickr on page 11.
• KERVIN CHONG page 17. SIGMA @ Flickr page 5.
• Cover is from the Library of Congress.
• All other artwork is original and by RICHARD THOMAS.