Flash non-fiction written in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are all living in an extraordinary moment. Our normal routines have been dramatically altered. Most of us are at home. Schools are all online. Our Lives Now is a nonfiction program that asks the young writers of Rhode Island to reflect on their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and tell their own stories. What… Continue reading Our Lives Now COVID-19 Nonfiction Writing Project
Being stuck in the house 24/7 has taught me to not take my everyday actions for granted. Being in quarantine has also taught me that any day could be the last and we should take risks. Not like extreme risks that will put my own or others lives’ in danger. Risks like talking to people you wouldn’t, or… Continue reading Life in Quarantine
The thing is it happens when your guard is most down. The unexpected. That is when the most affecting things seem to unload upon your life. When it is full of so much, is too full, to even consider such things that do not partake to you. As disasters always have a way with timing, it never fails… Continue reading The Unexpected
Closed are the libraries, where I used to spend most of my days. Closed are the airports, now families stay away. Closed are the schools where we learn new things everyday. Closed are the small businesses that keep our communities alive and thriving. Closed are the small restaurants, except for those who are driving. Closed are the doctors’… Continue reading Closed, Cancelled, Gone, Instead
To My Personal Blog, Since we are going to be friends for life, I should start telling you about myself. I am 14, and I was born in Pakistan. I also consider myself Afghani since I spent much of my childhood there. My family is Muslim. We emigrated to America in 2018 for a brighter life, but we… Continue reading Covid Blog
The best comparison I can think of is that a portion of my life has been cut away and put in a deep-freezer. And the slow lifting of restrictions is an attempt to thaw it out. I’m impatient for it to thaw, but I know if I don’t let it, the results could potentially be disastrous. My… Continue reading Deep Freeze
March 13th, ten minutes before school ended, an announcement that spring break would be moved to the next week played. Excitement and confusion erupted from my classmates, hugs were given between friends, while I complained it was a week earlier than the new Animal Crossing release, so what was the point? Returning home to hear I could not… Continue reading Isolated
There’s so much detail to them that I’d never truly noticed before this, before they became my prison, grim reminders of all that out there that I cannot see. Have you ever noticed what perfectly constructed contraptions windows are? I find myself drawn to them more than ever now, not only to open and experience what little I… Continue reading Window. Ceiling. Walls. Repeat.
When I was in fourth grade my class was told we’d be graduating in the year 2020. I always looked at 2020 and thought it was a far-off vision. I thought I’d be a different person. I thought I’d have my life together by now, but I never expected this. I never expected to be doing online classes,… Continue reading My Fourth Grade Self
None of us expected it. Before quarantine, my friends and I would joke about the infamous coronavirus. To us, it was barely a threat. There had been less than 100 cases in the United States and almost none in our home state. On March 14, we learned that we would be out of school for two weeks. For… Continue reading Covid-19: The Unexpected Outbreak
Photo by Rebecca Smith. A few weeks ago, I would have confidently told you that I was an introvert. I’m not one to talk, or text, or go to parties. Now though, I think I’m starting to understand why humans are defined as social creatures. I’m not going to deny that I don’t miss some… Continue reading Paper Cranes
WRITE RHODE ISLAND: OUR LIVES NOW 