ScholarWorks @ SeattleU (Seattle University)

Nesheiwat, Isabella

Fragments 
Volume 65 Lust Article 14 
2023 
THE BOY WHO LOVED THE SUN 
Isabella Nesheiwat 
Seattle University 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments 
Recommended Citation 
Nesheiwat, Isabella (2023) "THE BOY WHO LOVED THE SUN," Fragments: Vol. 65, Article 14. 
Available at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments/vol65/iss1/14 
This Prose is brought to you for free and open access by the Seattle University Journals at ScholarWorks @ 
SeattleU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Fragments by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks @ SeattleU. 
THE	BOY	WHO	LOVED	THE	SUN 
By	Isabella	Nesheiwat
He	fell	in	love	the	way	a	candle	burns	out.	Gradually,	until	all	that	is	left	is	darkness.	
For	years,	the	boy	and	his	father	were	held	prisoner	within	the	four	walls	of	that	
tower.	There	was	nothing	for	them	to	do	besides	contemplate	how	gloriously	his	
father	had	ruined	their	lives.	Eventually,	his	father	began	planning	a	means	of	
escape.	He	stayed	knee-deep	in	his	plans,	using	tiny	bits	of	chalk	to	draw	out	
sketches	on	the	granite	stone	surrounding	them.	Waist-deep	in	these	plans,	the	boy	
was	left	to	his	own	devices.	 
Desperate	for	any	kind	of	affection,	the	boy	would	reach	his	hand	out	of	the	window,	
straining	to	sink	his	fingers	into	the	rays	that	cascaded	toward	the	earth.	Soft	as	a	
lover's	cheek,	he	could	feel	warmth	remaining	on	his	fingertips	for	days	afterward. 
His	father	counted	down	the	days	to	freedom,	the	boy	counted	down	the	days	to	his	
final	flight	home.	Eventually,	his	father's	plans	bore	fruit.	The	feathers	painstakingly	
collected,	the	leather	sized	and	cut,	the	wax	meticulously	poured.	Straps	affixed	to	
bony	shoulders,	the	contraption	skin-tight	-	the	wings	rested	heavily	but	
comfortably	on	shoulder	blades.	Finally,	they	were	ready	for	flight. 
The	boy	needed	no	preparation,	no	moment	to	steel	himself	for	what	was	to	come.	
He	had	dreamt	of	this	moment	for	years.	So	without	a	second	thought	or	steadying	
breath,	he	jumped.	 
The	sun	fell	gracefully	upon	his	bare	back,	a	welcome	warmth	like	coming	home.	His	
father,	those	long	years	in	the	tower,	the	monster	in	the	labyrinth…	It	all	fell	away	as	
his	wings	caught	the	updraft	and	pulled	him	up	to	soar	among	the	clouds.	All	the	boy	
could	think	about	was	him	-	his	radiant	beam,	his	golden	chariot,	his	brilliant	god.	 
Limbs	entwined	with	sunbeams,	the	boy	felt	his	lover's	presence,	his	finger-light,	
scorching	touch,	all	along	his	skin,	down	his	back,	his	thighs,	his	ankles,	his	feet.	
Soaring	up,	up,	up	towards	the	sun,	towards	home,	all	the	boy	could	do	was	laugh.	
Never	before	had	he	felt	so	free.	
Can	you	hear	it?	 
The	sun	is	calling	my	name.	
Over	and	over,	repeating. 
The	sun	has	a	voice,	silky	and	golden	as	his	hair,	brilliant	and	piercing	as	his	dappled	
rays	through	the	trees. 
Come	home,	he	calls	to	me.	 
My	love. 
My	love. 
My	love. 
Can	you	hear	it? 
He	is	calling	my	name. 
Can	you	hear	it? 
  
 
He	fell	the	way	a	candle	is	snuffed	out.	Suddenly,	until	all	that	is	left	is	darkness.	 
  
All	the	boy	could	think	of	was	him.	His	once	radiant	beam,	his	once	golden	chariot,	
his	once	brilliant	god.	All	he	could	feel	was	the	god's	scorn	surrounding	him.	Limbs	
bound	by	sunbeams,	wax	melted	down	his	back,	his	thighs,	his	ankles,	his	feet.	
Tracks	of	betrayal	permanently	scorched	into	his	skin.	Death	pressed	burning	kisses	
down	his	shoulders	where	the	wings	were	fastened	to	the	harness.	Feathers	floated	
like	unanswered	prayers	through	his	outstretched	fingers,	still	somehow	reaching	
out,	aching	to	touch	him,	whom	he	loves.	 
  
The	sun	painted	everything	in	shades	of	gold,	and	all	he	could	do	was	laugh.	The	
phrase	'god-like	punishment'	rang	with	sudden,	perfect	clarity.	He	had	dared	to	love	
something	brighter	than	himself,	and	now	look. 
  
The	fall	was	the	easiest	part.	The	betrayal	was	as	hard	to	swallow	as	the	water	that	
forced	its	way	into	his	lungs.	He	had	seen	him,	that	beautiful	golden	dream	of	a	man,	
hovering	with	open	arms,	calling	him	higher	and	higher	and	higher,	towards	home.	 
  
But	then	that	loving	smile	faded	to	derision,	and	those	loving	arms	clenched	tighter	
and	tighter	and	tighter	and... 
 
Is	this	what	I	get	for	loving	a	god? 
  
Just	before	he	hit	the	water,	the	god	leaned	down	and	placed	a	single	burning	kiss	on	
his	lover's	cheek.	 
 
Centuries	later.... 
 
The	god	sits	at	the	bar	at	the	end	of	the	world,	incessantly	gulping	pint	after	pint	of	
something	strong	and	bitter.	Every	day	the	memories	seem	to	drift	both	closer	and	
further	away	-	close	enough	to	touch,	but	too	far	to	grasp.	Soft,	wavy	locks	cascade	
to	the	dirty	floor	like	rivers	of	liquid	gold,	lazily	tied	back	with	a	scrap	of	charred	
leather.	The	only	remaining	fragment	of	a	life	once	lived,	a	love	once	had.	 
  
The	drink,	though	expertly	made,	does	nothing	to	soothe	him.	It's	a	poor	
replacement	for	the	ambrosia	and…...	whatever	the	other	thing	was.	 
  
He	has	lost	everything.	His	memories,	his	power,	his	chariot,	his	family.	His	sister.	
She	has	left	him	now	too.	She	won't	answer	his	calls	anymore.	She	hunts	still,	but	he	
is	no	longer	there	to	light	her	way.	Centuries	have	passed,	leaving	him	behind	with	
his	loneliness.	 
  
But	isn't	this	what	you	wanted,	brother? 
  
Tossed	about	in	the	hurricane	of	his	own	thoughts	and	emotions,	he	almost	doesn't	
notice	the	stranger	seated	at	the	other	end	of	the	bar.	Lanky	arms	shrouded	in	
leather,	heavy	platform	boots	tapping	in	time	to	the	music,	cheap	black-dyed	hair	
concealing	his	features	from	the	god's	curious	gaze.	The	stranger	sits	slouched	on	
his	stool,	forehead	almost	touching	the	perpetually	sticky	bar,	staring	at	a	single	
spot	on	the	counter	long	after	the	bartender	wiped	the	stain	away.	 
  
Something	like	painful	remembrance	plucks	the	god's	heart	like	fingers	on	the	
strings	of	a	lyre.	 
  
He	cannot	bear	to	look	away	from	the	stranger,	desperate	to	place	him	in	the	
mishmash	of	memories	he	is	unable	to	parse	through.	The	god	tries	to	recall	past	
memories,	from	when	he	still	rode	across	the	sky,	but	everything	is	an	impenetrable	
blur.	 
  
With	a	sharp	twist	of	his	neck,	the	stranger's	storm-gray	eyes	meet	the	god's	own.	
And	narrow. 
  
Words	escape	the	god's	grasp.	He	cannot	breathe.	Memories	from	the	peripheral	of	
his	vision	that	have	been	intangible	for	centuries,	finally	coalesce	into	solid	form.	He	
still	cannot	name	this	stranger,	but	something	inside	thrums	with	recognition,	
mockery,	disdain,	indifference,	and	a	heady	guilt	that	settles	in	the	center	of	him	
with	permanent	finality.	 
  
"Can	I	help	you?"	 
  
His	voice.	Sharp	and	strident,	the	metallic	sound	of	a	sword	being	unsheathed.	There	
is	no	kindness	there,	no	gentleness	exists	in	the	voice	of	this	stranger.	 
  
It	was	those	eyes,	in	the	end,	that	did	it.	Some	distant,	still	unattainable	memory	
tried	to	rise	to	the	surface.	Those	eyes...	Surrounded	by	pink,	puckered	skin,	faded	
blisters—	-	scars	that	will	never	fully	heal.	Kissed	by	the	sun.	But...	weren't	they	
supposed	to	be	on	the	other	side	of	his	face?	Something	is	not	quite	right	about	this	
stranger.	 
  
He	is	not	who	the	god	believes	him	to	be.	Wants	him	to	be. 
  
The	god	clears	his	throat,	shifting	awkwardly	in	his	seat.	"No,	sorry.	I…	I	thought	you	
were	someone	else."	 
  
The	stranger	rolls	his	eyes	and	picks	up	his	drink	to	sit	somewhere	else,	leaving	the	
god	to	nurse	his	drink	alone. 
  
Later,	much	later,	the	god	stumbles	home,	tripping	down	ancient	cobblestone	streets	
he	once	knew	well.	Like	a	stain	on	the	backs	of	his	eyelids,	he	cannot	seem	to	leave	
the	stranger	behind.	 
  
Blocks	away	from	his	cramped	apartment,	the	wind	gains	a	sudden	speed,	changes	
direction.	 
  
Suddenly	unnaturally	strong,	his	remaining	mortal	strength	could	barely	cleave	a	
path	through	the	gale.	The	howling	surrounds	him,	forces	itself	down	his	throat,	fills	
his	lungs	until	all	that	remains	within	him	is	the	bellowing	wind.	 
  
And	then,	a	shift.	Howling	turns	to	piercing	turns	to	something	else,	something	
ancient,	something	human.	A	scream	filled	with	anger,	grief,	sadness,	fear,	and	
betrayal	charges	through	the	gust,	piercing	him	to	his	very	core.	It	is	unbearable.	
The	unending	persistence	of	its	shriek	forces	the	god	to	the	ground.	The	memories	
hit	him	as	sharply	as	his	knees	strike	the	cobblestones	beneath	him.	It	is	a	slap	in	the	
face,	a	knife	in	the	gut.	The	walls	he	had	constructed	that	once	kept	him	from	
remembering	are	shattered	in	a	single	blow.	 
  
He	knows	that	voice.	He	heard	it	once,	sometime	long	ago,	giddily	repeating	the	
god's	own	name	as	its	owner	flew	boundless	towards	him.	He	once	laughed	at	it,	
burning	the	boy	out	of	the	sky. 
  
And	then,	as	quickly	as	it	arrived,	the	wind,	the	howl,	the	shriek–	all	of	it	is	gone.	The	
silence	is	almost	as	painful	as	the	scream.	He	can	breathe	again,	and	the	act	of	doing	
so	makes	him	aware	that	he	hadn't	since	the	wind	changed	direction.	He	choked	on	
the	air	that	returned	to	his	lungs,	as	his	vision	cleared,	as	his	ears	rang	with	the	
echoing	wails	of	that	scream	he	had	tried,	had	forced	himself	to	forget.	 
  
In	the	blistering	silence	that	remains,	the	wind	returns	to	its	normal	speed	and	
strength.	It	trails	like	cold	fingertips	across	his	cheeks	like	the	gentle	caress	of	a	
careful	lover.	 
  
And	he	hears	something	else.	 
 
Shivering	with	retribution	and	forgiveness	and	anger	and	hurt,	a	whisper	reaches	
the	god's	ears,	 
echoing	down	the	centuries	in	a	voice	he	knows	now	he	will	never,	ever	forget. 
 
Find	me	in	the	ashes.	
	 	


THE BOY WHO LOVED THE SUN

Johnson, Naja

Seattle University 
ScholarWorks @ SeattleU 
The Spectator Online Newspapers 
5-28-2025 
2025-05-28 Mormon Wives Review: Will Momtok Survive This? 
Naja Johnson 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/spectator-online 
The Spectator • May 28, 2025 • https://seattlespectator.com/2025/05/28/mormon-wives-review-will-
momtok-survive-this/
Mormon Wives Review: Will
Momtok Survive This?
Naja Johnson, News Editor
Last week, Hulu dropped season two of the popular reality
series “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.” The show
spotlights the infamous Utah-based TikToking mom group,
also known as “MomTok.” The group first gained notoriety
in early 2021 when the influencers began collaborating on
TikTok and other media platforms. The bunch is led by
Taylor Frankie Paul, who is no stranger to public scandal.
Paul first faced scrutiny after she announced that her
divorce from husband Tate Paul was due to her entering
into a soft-swinging relationship with MomTok alumnus,
and season two newcomer, Miranda McWhorter and her
now ex-husband, Chase McWhorter.
This season explores topics like dysfunctional families,
depression and religious trauma associated with the
Mormon church.
Season two follows the neurotic young women as they battle the patriarchy, one TikTok at a time. The question still remains: Will
MomTok survive this? Since I forced myself to watch these retired mean girls cohabitate, I think it’s only fair that I give an analysis of
each personality on this low-budget and clearly staged show. My ranking is below.
Taylor Frankie Paul: Queen of MomTok and a certified hot mess express. Is she pure chaos in the form of a 5’4″ brunette who can
dance till the sun goes down? Fan favorite and America’s sweetheart, she’s the only one who takes accountability for her mistakes
and clearly wears her heart on her sleeve. I commend her for recognizing the error of her ways—it’s just that she keeps repeating
them. Accountability means nothing if you don’t change your behavior. In this season, she’s still dealing with the fallout from her
soft-swinging scandal with ex-best friend Miranda McWhorter—an ordeal that left both of their marriages in shambles. I’ve
personally never been inclined to share, but that whole storyline reinforced my stance on semi-open relationships. As problematic
and intense as she is, without her, there is no show.
Mayci Neeley: Unproblematic and the only person in this group I’d actually want as a friend. This season, she advocated for herself
and shared her story of battling domestic violence and abuse in past relationships. She’s one of the most realistic and authentic
personalities on the show. From a communications perspective, she’s the only one who seems concerned with the long-term optics
of being on a reality show.
Mikayla Matthews: I like how she actually grew a spine this season and learned to stand up for herself. She opened up about her
trauma, including abuse in her home life, which followed her into adulthood. I also appreciated how she kept her foot on Whitney’s
neck all season. Compared to last season, she’s become much more than a space filler.
Jen Affleck: Oh, poor Jen. I had so much sympathy for her because she’s married to the worst man ever. Like, she needed to leave
her husband yesterday. On top of that, she has horrible friends and no decent support system. The whole season, everyone turned
Image courtesy of Hulu.
against her, and I kept thinking, “Can they please leave this pregnant lady alone?”
Miranda McWhorter: Honestly, a breath of fresh air this season, though she didn’t really add anything new to the storyline besides
the swinging scandal. I liked how she and Taylor were able to reconcile their differences and move past the drama. Personally, if you
kissed my man in the shower, I’d pray meticulously for your downfall all 365 days of the year. 
Whitney Leavitt: Oh, Whitney… social-climbing, ketamine queen Whitney. She was so close to a redemption arc. I was rooting for
her, and then she did a complete 180. After having yet another baby, she comes out of the woodwork begging for a spot back on
MomTok, even though she willingly left the group last season. With an elite face card and a wildly expressive display of passive-
aggressiveness, I couldn’t even be mad. This woman is a professional victim who dodges accountability at an Olympic-level—and I
live for it.
Layla Taylor: Why is she on this show? Can someone please tell me? All she does is stroke Demi’s ego and look confused. I’ve had
situationships that lasted longer than her storyline. This season, she dated a lame dude and went skinny dipping—that’s it. I want the
producers to explore more of her journey since last season, especially her identity as a Black woman in the Mormon church. I need
her to take a page out of Mikayla’s book and grow a backbone by next season.
Jessi Ngatikaura: Messy Jessi. Since season one, she’s kept the drama coming, and she’s the only one in the group who has a job
outside of social media. I instantly respected her for serving looks with custom extensions and making sure the whole cast is serving
too. Honestly, she ranks low on this list because of how she treated Jen and the whole Chippendales fiasco. Call me Karen, but I
personally don’t understand the hype around paying hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars to rub oil on a random jacked-up dude
from Vegas. Like, you can literally reenact it at home with a man of your choice for free.
Demi Engemann: Oh, Demi. Quite the fall from grace. Last season, she was a fan favorite, and now she’s become America’s villain.
From trying to kick her best friend off the show for a pay raise, to clashing with Taylor over who’s the Queen Bee… it’s a mess. I was
rooting for her last season, but now? Crickets.
Season two of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” was chaotic, cringeworthy and most importantly, completely addictive. Despite
the crocodile tears, cheating and contention, these women have established a community, and I’m rooting for them all in season
three. 


2025-05-28 Mormon Wives Review: Will Momtok Survive This?

Creson, Fern

Seattle University 
ScholarWorks @ SeattleU 
The Spectator Online Newspapers 
1-29-2025 
2025-01-29 Dormiliciouse: Breakfast PrepEgg Muffins 
Fern Creson 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/spectator-online 
The Spectator • January 29, 2025 • https://seattlespectator.com/2025/01/29/dormiliciouse-breakfast-
prep-egg-muffins/
Dormiliciouse: Breakfast Prep
Egg Muffins
Fern Creson, Staff Reporter
If you’re an unfortunate soul like me, you have an 8 a.m. class this quarter and an equally weighted need for breakfast. By the time
I’ve peeled myself out of bed at 7 a.m., I’ve run out of time to get ready and make a meal that’s going to last me through my morning
classes. That’s why I’ve made my way back to one of the easiest and most adaptable breakfast meal preps: egg muffins. 
Tools:
Cupcake Tin 
Cupcake Wrappers
Fork
Bowl
Oven
Ingredients: 
Eggs (8)
Milk
Salt and Pepper
Fillings of your choice
Cheese 
Potato
Zucchini 
Steps:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Celsius. 
Crack 6-12 eggs into a large mixing box. I used 8, which was just enough for 12 muffins. The amount of eggs you use will depend on
how many muffins you’d like to make and how many fillings you’re adding.
Whisk the eggs with a fork.
Add a splash of milk or milk alternative. I used about ¼ cup for 8 eggs, but feel free to add more or less. The milk stretches the egg
batter further and makes the texture soft. 
Add salt and pepper to taste and whisk again.
Line your cupcake tin with the liners.
Add your toppings to the bottom of each compartment. I added whatever I had in the house, which happened to be zucchini and
potato. The zucchini does not need to be cooked beforehand, as it will cook with the egg in the oven. For 12 muffins I used ¼ of a
zucchini. I boiled one potato for 20 minutes before cutting it into large cubes and dividing it. You can seriously add whatever you
want or nothing at all. Try spinach, feta or tomato; whatever you have on hand.
Pour the egg batter into each cupcake compartment, leaving ¼ inch of room to allow for expansion. 
Top with cheese.
Pop your pan into the oven for 15-25 minutes, until the egg is firm. 
Voila! The easiest grab-and-go breakfast. In the morning, just pop them in the microwave, get a piece of toast going, and you’re as
ready as you ever will be for that 8 a.m. class. 


2025-01-29 Dormiliciouse: Breakfast PrepEgg Muffins

Ruiz, Kevin

Seattle University 
ScholarWorks @ SeattleU 
The Spectator Online Newspapers 
1-15-2025 
2025-01-15 Seahawks Coach Looks Toward Future As Season 
Wraps 
Kevin Ruiz 
Seattle University 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/spectator-online 
Recommended Citation 
Ruiz, Kevin, "2025-01-15 Seahawks Coach Looks Toward Future As Season Wraps" (2025). The Spectator 
Online. 1559. 
https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/spectator-online/1559 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Newspapers at ScholarWorks @ SeattleU. It has been 
accepted for inclusion in The Spectator Online by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ SeattleU. 
The Spectator • January 15, 2025 • https://seattlespectator.com/2025/01/15/seahawks-coach-looks-
toward-future-as-season-wraps/
Seahawks Coach Looks Toward
Future As Season Wraps
Kevin Ruiz, Volunteer Reporter
Heading into a week 15 matchup with the 9-4 Green Bay
Packers on Sunday Night Football, the 8-5 Seattle
Seahawks controlled their destiny to the NFC playoffs and
their first NFC West division title since 2020. Riding a four-
game winning streak on the back of a defense that was
allowing 15.5 points per game over that stretch, Seattle’s
hopes for the playoffs were well and alive after a
questionable 4-5 start. 
Unfortunately for the Seahawks, the Los Angeles Rams
were looming. After a 1-4 start, the Rams closed out the
season winning five out of their last six games. In week
eight, The Rams beat the Seahawks in overtime. That win
proved to be the deciding factor in the 2024 NFC West title
race.With matchups against two of the top teams in the
conference on the horizon, the Seahawks showed they were still a tier below the best teams in the National Football Conference.
Green Bay walked out with a 30-13 win. A week later, the 12-2 Minnesota Vikings were in town. And yet again, the Seahawks
suffered another home loss. 
Seattle went into week 17 with hope, after picking up a win vs the Chicago Bears, but then again the Rams kept on winning. After
Sunday’s slate of games, the Rams got all the necessary tie-breakers, ending the Seahawks season before the final week of the NFL
regular season. 
Regardless, quarterback Geno Smith and the rest of the team came out urgent to come away with a victory against those same
Rams, who rested several key starters in preparation for the Wild Card round. 
“You got to go out there and you got to give it your all no matter the circumstance. No matter what the record says, no matter the
situation, for me it was another opportunity to go out there with my teammates and grind out a win,” Smith said in his end of season
presser.
The team parted ways with Offensive Coordinator Ryan Grubb just one day after the conclusion of the season. 
“We want our offense to be a physical unit and dictate terms of the defense and play complimentary football and get the ball to our
playmakers in space and let our quarterback play fast… it really was just a vision thing and that’s why we made the decision [to move
on from Grubb],” head coach Mike Macdonald said in his end of season presser.
The Seahawks ranked top 15 in passing offense but struggled to establish a run game, ranking 28th in the league. 
Matthew Mai
“We have a talented roster that we can grow from, especially a young talented core that is going to grow and develop. I believe in
this young crew,” Macdonald said.
Referring to players like Devin Witherspoon, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Leonard Williams, who all had career years, the team is set up
to contend in the upcoming years.
One of the biggest offseason questions for the Seahawks will be what happens with Geno Smith and the quarterback position.
According to Spotrac, Geno Smith is expected to have a cap hit of $44,000,000 for 2025. This is a lofty cap hit for Smith, who will be
35 in October and passed for over 4,000 yards this season but struggled taking care of the ball with 15 interceptions. 
“This team is heading in the right direction, this team is on its way and that’s with or without me,” Smith said. “I believe the best of
the best is going to happen for this team, and I just want to continue to fight with these guys.” 
Before taking any questions, wide receiver Tyler Lockett took some time to recognize the equipment staff.
“Our equipment staff and athletic staff should definitely get a raise. If you see the things that they do day in and day out, our
equipment staff literally has to stay overnight just to be able to put our stuff back. Literally they barely even sleep. It speaks volumes
about the people we have in this building and being blessed to be able to know them.”
Drafted in the third round of the 2015 out of Kansas State, Lockett is the longest-tenured player on the team. Lockett’s first-ever
regular season game in the NFL was against the Rams, and now what could’ve been the last game of his Seahawks career ends
against the Rams. 
“Maybe this isn’t the end, maybe it is the end, but I will always be a Seahawk through and through,” Lockett said. 
If this is his last game, Lockett walks away as one of the most beloved players in franchise history and second in franchise receiving
yards to Hall of Famer Steve Largent.
The Seahawks now close the doors on the 2024-2025 season and head into the offseason perhaps without their longest-tenured
player, and their quarterback.


2025-01-15 Seahawks Coach Looks Toward Future As Season Wraps

Schorr, Natalie

Seattle University 
ScholarWorks @ SeattleU 
The Spectator Online Newspapers 
2-26-2025 
2025-02-26 Seattle Reign Gear Up For Another NWSL Season 
Natalie Schorr 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/spectator-online 
The Spectator • February 26, 2025 • https://seattlespectator.com/2025/02/26/seattle-reign-gear-up-
for-another-nwsl-season/
Seattle Reign Gear Up For
Another NWSL Season
Natalie Schorr, Digital Media Producer
Seattle Reign fans may have been despairing after last
NWSL season’s less than stellar finish in second to last
place. However, things may be looking up for the club. With
major signings during the offseason and a quality
performance in preseason games at the Coachella Valley
Invitational (CVI), the Reign could be a club to look out for
as the NWSL starts in a few short weeks.
The club knew changes had to be made after last season’s
performance. Head coach Laura Harvey stated in an end of
season press conference that part of the team’s struggle
was the 14 new players that joined the Reign at the
beginning of the season. She stated that there was a lot
they could reflect on and grow from in the offseason.
Organizationally, the Reign and Seattle Sounders have
announced restructuring and new hiring in order to grow both clubs and improve the fan experience. These changes also come
ahead of this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup and next year’s FIFA World Cup, where Seattle will host games in both events. The
clubs hope to capitalize on these tournaments to help grow the popularity of soccer in the United States. The Reign have also hired
a new assistant coach, Lee Ngyuen, who comes with four years of experience in coaching in the NWSL.
As with any offseason, the roster saw many changes with players joining and departing the club. Jess Fishlock and Lauren Barnes
were both re-signed, making them the only players in the NWSL who have been with the same team since the founding of the
league in 2013. The Reign also signed rookies Maddie Dahlien and Emily Mason.
The most exciting signing, however, was undoubtedly Lynn Biyendolo. Biyendolo was a part of the 2024 Women’s Soccer Olympic
Gold-winning team, and is also the NWSL’s leading goal scorer with 80 goals to her name. With the Reign struggling in scoring goals
in the previous season, signing Biyendolo will hopefully help the team be more successful in this year’s season. 
Biyendolo already seems to be making a difference, as she scored the lone goal in the Reign’s 1-0 win against Bay FC in their first
game of the CVI. Biyendolo showed her ability to break down the defensive line and stretch the field. Harvey and Barnes
commented after the Reign’s first official practice that Biyendolo fills an important gap on the roster, and this game confirms how
essential this signing was.
With this being a preseason game, Harvey made lots of rotations and much of the roster got a chance to be on the field. Other
players who put out solid performances were rookie Mason, new signing from Angel City FC Madison Curry, and defender Jordyn
Bugg.
Ahmed Abdirashid Abdullah
The Reign’s second and final game of the CVI against Angel City looked a little different, as six players were away on international
duty, including Biyendolo. Despite this, the Reign were able to keep Angel City to a 1-1 draw, giving them an undefeated record in
their preseason matches. With six international players gone, those who were not subbed in the previous game were given a chance
to shine. Dahlien was the Reign’s goal scorer for this game after she stole the ball at half and dribbled up the field to finish. Harvey
again made lots of changes to make sure everyone on the bench got a chance to show what they could do.
With the CVI matches completed, the Reign are now gearing up for the start of the NWSL season in March. Before their first match,
the Reign will be playing an exhibition match against the University of Washington’s women’s soccer team March 8. The first game
of the season and home opener will be against NJ/NY Gotham FC March 15 at Lumen Field. For anyone looking to support women’s
sports in Seattle, you won’t want to miss it.


2025-02-26 Seattle Reign Gear Up For Another NWSL Season

Stipkovits, Caleb

Seattle University 
ScholarWorks @ SeattleU 
The Spectator Online Newspapers 
4-23-2025 
2025-04-23 Storm Selects Dominique Malonga as Highest Draft 
Pick Since 2016 
Caleb Stipkovits 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/spectator-online 
The Spectator • April 23, 2025 • https://seattlespectator.com/2025/04/23/storm-selects-dominique-
malonga-as-highest-draft-pick-since-2016/
Storm Selects Dominique
Malonga as Highest Draft Pick
Since 2016
Caleb Stipkovits, Managing Editor
With the 2025 Women’s National Basketball Association
(WNBA) season just weeks away, the Seattle Storm
bolstered their roster by drafting four new players. The
group is headlined by #2 overall pick Dominique Malonga, a
6-foot-6-inch center from France. 
The three-round draft kicked off the evening of April 14,
with the Dallas Wings selecting University of Connecticut
guard Paige Bueckers first overall. Then, it was the Storm’s
turn to make their first round selection, the highest pick the
franchise has had since they took Breanna Stewart first
overall in 2016. 
In a draft full of league-worthy talent, the Storm opted for Malonga, whose size, finishing and shooting ability make her an intriguing
prospect. Malonga has spent the past few years playing professional basketball with French club LDLC ASVEL Feminin. In 14 games
this season, Malonga has averaged 18.5 points and 11 rebounds per game.
Storm fans such as Third-year International Studies Major Diego Borromeo are excited to see Malonga play in green and yellow. 
“I love Dominique Malonga. She’s a beast in the paint, I can’t wait to see what she does alongside Nneka [Ogwumike] and Skylar
Diggins-Smith,” Borromeo said.
As Borromeo mentioned, there’s a lot for Storm fans to like about Malonga. Standing at 6 feet 6 inches, she is now one of the
WNBA’s tallest players. Despite being slotted as a center, she handles the ball like a guard and has a deep bag of crafty post moves.
Oh, and she can dunk— Malonga is the first Frenchwoman to perform an in-game dunk ever.
Malonga also brings a winning history to the Storm. She has found success playing for the French national team, winning a silver
medal during the 2024 Olympics. While her role in Olympic play was small, she was impressively the youngest player on her team at
18 years old. In 2025, Malonga will take a larger role with the national team as they compete in the International Basketball
Federation (FIBA) EuroBasket qualifiers.
While Malonga brings a bright future to the Storm, fans also recognize that the team had to give up a key player to draft her.
Following a disappointing first round exit against the Las Vegas Aces, the team knew they needed to make some changes. The
change they determined they needed was trading franchise cornerstone Jewell Loyd, who alleged the coaching staff mistreated and
bullied its players last season.
Sean Alexander
The Storm shipped Loyd to the Aces in a three-team trade that also involved the Los Angeles Sparks. Alongside sending Loyd to the
Aces, the Storm also sent the 9th overall pick and a 2026 second round pick to the Sparks. In return, the Storm received the second
overall pick, a 2026 first round pick from the Aces and center Li Yueru from the Sparks.
Abby Cea, an Aces fan and third-year public affairs major, believes that the trade will benefit all parties involved, especially Loyd.
“[Jewell] being on the Storm at a younger age, and then losing a lot of leadership with Brianna Stewart and Sue Bird [leaving and
retiring], it was kind of like she was thrown into a leadership role at an age that was too early,” Cea said. “I’m interested to see how
she does with the Aces now that she’s a little older.”
Loyd will be missed, but many fans acknowledge that it’s time for the Storm to look to the future. Cea believes that the addition of
Malonga and Li, who stands at 6 feet 7 inches, could be a dangerous duo in the WNBA.
The Storm also selected three players in the third round of this year’s draft: guards Serena Sundell, Madison Conner and Jordan
Hobbs. With forward Jordan Horston and guard Nika Muhl sustaining season-ending injuries, it’s possible that the players have a
shot at making the team’s roster. 
With the 2025 season starting May 16, the Storm’s roster is coming together. The team enters year two with co-stars Diggins-Smith
and Ogwumike, who both joined the Storm in 2024. Additionally, the young backcourt trio of center Ezi Magbegor, Li and the newly-
drafted Malonga should develop into one of the league’s best.
“I think it’s going to take a bit of time [for the young players to develop], but they’ve got Gabby Williams, they’ve got Skylar Diggins-
Smith, they have Nneka [Ogwumike], all these senior level players are going to help them acclimate to the league faster,” Cea said.
In what could be one of the WNBA’s best seasons yet, the Storm are ready for the future.


2025-04-23 Storm Selects Dominique Malonga as Highest Draft Pick Since 2016

Sheo, Ashley

Seattle University 
ScholarWorks @ SeattleU 
The Spectator Online Newspapers 
5-8-2025 
2025-05-08 Review: “After Hours” (1985), Absurdity in Reality 
Ashley Sheo 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/spectator-online 
The Spectator • May 8, 2025 • https://seattlespectator.com/2025/05/08/review-after-hours-1985-
absurdity-in-reality/
Review: “After Hours” (1985),
Absurdity in Reality
Ashley Sheo, Volunteer Designer
A twenty-dollar bill spirals out the window of a yellow New York taxicab and launches word-processor Paul Hackett (Griffin Dunne)
into a seemingly unending cycle of miserable absurdity, stranding him in SoHo of the 80s with no way back home.
“A parody of film noir and also a parody of a thriller,” Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours” (1985) came about after the cancellation of his
dream project and the failure of his previous film. It is unsurprising, then, that “After Hours” is a disorienting, Kafkaesque spiral into
torment and despair, with Paul Hackett as its unwitting victim. Paul is a projection of Scorsese’s desperate need to right himself in a
world that has shut him out. 
The film begins with Paul at work: a droning office divided into cubicles, workers in stiff suits and not a smile. His mundane world is
brightened when, while reading “Tropic of Cancer” at a diner, a strange girl, Marcy (Patricia Arquette), initiates conversation and
gives him her number. “Maybe you should come on over,” she says on a late-night phone call, prompting Paul to leave his apartment
towards SoHo, a world unexplored. 
Already, this seems like a bad idea: all his money has flown out the open window of a taxi, the city is cold and empty, and in the
apartment, Marcy is nowhere to be found. Her even stranger roommate is working on a paper-mâché sculpture, whose face is
contorted in fear and arms thrown up in anguish. A long shot tells us this figure is important. Paul comments that it looks like Edvard
Munch’s “The Shriek.” “The Scream,” Marcy’s roommate corrects him.
When Marcy finally comes around, she is different: uncannily moody and a bit hostile, and Paul, quickly giving up on his romantic
pursuit, flees the apartment. 
At this point in the film, the atmosphere is set; through a fog of confusion, you can pinpoint the absurdity. Like a falling sequence of
dominoes, Paul’s night takes a turn for the worse. Chased through empty diners, missing keys, punk clubs and bizarre characters, it
seems Paul, whose life was normal and familiar just an hour before, will never get home. 
The film feels like a disorienting, unpleasant dream from start to finish, evoking (and even directly pulling a scene from) Kafka’s “The
Trial,” where a man, Josef K., wakes up to find himself accused of a crime never specified to us nor Josef himself. Kafka’s works are
famously illogical and set within oppressive worlds “without means of escaping,” and I found this to be true in “After Hours” as well—
from the office setting in the beginning to Paul’s later escape from a mob accusing him of burglary. 
“After Hours,” despite its hilariously surreal chain of events, is not so foreign. We have stepped into the psyche of Scorsese at the
end of his rope, his seeming final chance to prove himself worthy of his place in cinema. He states in the “After Hours” DVD
commentary: “And so this film (…) comes out of a feeling of being stuck in the underworld and never being able to get out, maybe
never being able to get to make another big film in a sense or does one just continue.” 
At its essence, “After Hours” is loneliness, confusion, guilt, and dread. Set in 1980s SoHo, a place ravaged by gentrification in the real
world, the city is empty and illogical. It seems to warn us of the impending doom of displaced workers and artists, unable to find
footing amongst a higher class. Paul’s eagerness to escape his dull, corporate life despite danger is familiar, a reflection of
“dehumanization within the corporate enterprise.” 
“Why don’t you just go home?” asks a man, to which Paul replies dryly, “Pal, I’ve been asking myself that all night long.” 
The film constantly wonders, why? Why me? It feels surreal and disorienting, but stripped to its bare bones, it is not so far removed
from reality. “After Hours” is a film worthy of watching for anyone stretched too thin over a corporate world, chased by
responsibilities decided by faceless higher powers, and wanting to confirm perhaps reality is not so free of absurdity after all.


2025-05-08 Review: “After Hours” (1985), Absurdity in Reality

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Armstrong, Madden

Seattle University 
ScholarWorks @ SeattleU 
The Spectator Online Newspapers 
4-30-2025 
2025-04-23 Defying Gravity with Seattle University’s Annual Drag 
Show 
Madden Armstrong 
Seattle University 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/spectator-online 
Recommended Citation 
Armstrong, Madden, "2025-04-23 Defying Gravity with Seattle University’s Annual Drag Show" (2025). The 
Spectator Online. 1519. 
https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/spectator-online/1519 
This News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Newspapers at ScholarWorks @ SeattleU. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Spectator Online by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ 
SeattleU. 
The Spectator • April 23, 2025 • https://seattlespectator.com/2025/04/23/defying-gravity-with-seattle-
universitys-annual-drag-show/
Defying Gravity with Seattle
University’s Annual Drag Show
Madden Armstrong, Volunteer Reporter
Seattle University’s LGBTQ+ club, Triangle Club, hosted its
annual drag show in the Campion Ballroom, with
attendance open to the public. The theme this year was
“Wickedly Queer,” a nod to the smash-hit musical and all
things magical. Triangle Club selects the theme for the drag
show fall quarter of each academic year to prepare for the
spring quarter performance.
Collin Durfee, a fourth-year political science major and
event coordinator for Triangle Club, was won over by the
theme due to “Wicked”’s staying power as a piece of media
and its iconic color palette of pink and green, which
festooned the ballroom during the event. A plastic yellow
brick road clung to the floor as attendees entered,
transporting them into the magic of the show.
“I think drag is magical in and of itself… There’s a magic that
we conjure as drag performers when we get on stage. Not
all of us are doing ‘Popular’ or ‘The Wizard and I,’ but we’re
still doing wicked magic,” Durfee said.
Durfee performed in the show as his drag persona “Gayle Marriage,” alongside a combination of student and professional
performers. Triangle Club also partnered with Cornish Drag Club to highlight four Cornish performers, a show of unity in light of the
Seattle U-Cornish merger. Durfee wanted to foster a welcoming environment for Cornish students during a time when there are
many uncertainties about how students’ programs are going to proceed.
Another key element of the show is its hosts. Triangle Club invited Kylie Mooncakes and King Jack to emcee and perform this year.
The show represents a full-circle moment for Kylie Mooncakes, who attended one of her first drag shows as an audience member at
Seattle U when she was around 20 years old. As a cohost, she wore pink, and during her set she wore green—lest the audience
forget the theme. For Kylie Mooncakes, drag is more than the outfits and alter egos.
“Drag to me has always represented the yin yang of protest and fight, but also celebration and joy. So I hope while we’re in these
moments together, celebrating each other, celebrating our queer student body… I hope we can remember to revel in this, and then
tomorrow, we get up and continue to stand on ten toes for what we believe in,” Kylie Mooncakes said.
King Jack was invited to emcee after Triangle Club officers learned that they had been asked to step away from their teaching job
after harassment due to their night and weekend performances as a drag king. King Jack took many precautions to keep their life as
Sasha Volovnikov
Wickedly Queer’s drag performers cheer for the night’s host Kylie
Mooncakes at the end of the show.
a high school English teacher and drag king separate, but they were outed by a cyberbullying campaign. 
Masee Anderson, third-year forensic psychology major and president of Triangle Club, saw this as an opportunity to support a
community member.
“The time we’re living in, I can’t even say it’s unprecedented. We’ve
seen the signs, and we’ve all chosen to not do anything… and the
people that have done something, they need so much more love and
support than we give them. I was unaware of what happened to King
Jack. When we were planning the drag show we saw it on the news
and Collin brought it up, and that’s how we decided, ‘we’re
community, a community sticks together,’” Anderson said.
King Jack performed the first number of the night in rainbow spandex
with a heart cutout, strutting into the crowd to show off their intense
geometric makeup. After the set, they retreated backstage to change
into a glam late-night show host look to emcee, completed by a wig
coiffed with pomade and glitter. It was the first time King Jack
performed in two months, a welcome return after a turbulent time in
their life.
“Going from a very busy life of being a teacher during the day, being a drag king at night, and then all of a sudden, I no longer had
anything. It was really hard. And so how the show went tonight was great… it just felt like getting back on the bike,” King Jack said.
The drag show offered an escape to its audience through bewitching performances, makeup and costumes. The lip sync battle was
another beloved annual tradition, in which audience members volunteered to give their best drag act in front of the crowd. They
had just a few minutes to adorn themselves in props, engineer a persona and practice their act before competing for a tiara and
bragging rights.
The show is as much a celebration as it was a reminder to share in community, whether it be with fellow Seattle U students, Cornish
students, the queer community and the Seattle area. 
“To my queer students, to the students that don’t fit in, the outsiders, the weirdos, like, I’ve been there. It’s hard. But keep going,
there is a spot for you in this world even if it feels like all the light has left. You are that light,” King Jack said.
Drag is an art form currently under attack in states like Texas because, as with other forms of art, there is debate about
appropriateness and what is provocative. The Seattle U drag show demonstrates that drag is not only joyous, but essential in times
when provocation is necessary.
Kylie Mooncakes performs a ballad as a closing number.


2025-04-23 Defying Gravity with Seattle University’s Annual Drag Show

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Seattle University 
ScholarWorks @ SeattleU 
The Spectator Online Newspapers 
3-5-2025 
2025-03-05 Dormiliciouse: Rosemary Garlic Popcorn 
Fern Creson 
Seattle University 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/spectator-online 
Recommended Citation 
Creson, Fern, "2025-03-05 Dormiliciouse: Rosemary Garlic Popcorn" (2025). The Spectator Online. 1533. 
https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/spectator-online/1533 
This News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Newspapers at ScholarWorks @ SeattleU. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Spectator Online by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ 
SeattleU. 
The Spectator • March 5, 2025 • https://seattlespectator.com/2025/03/05/dormiliciouse-rosemary-
garlic-popcorn/
Dormiliciouse: Rosemary Garlic
Popcorn 
Fern Creson, Staff Reporter
One of the many blessings in my life is the popcorn machine
my mom bought me freshman year of college. Nearly every
night for two years, my roommate and I would split a big
bowl of buttered popcorn with nutritional yeast. But what if
there were a better popcorn, a fancier, more refined
popcorn that smelled like Thanksgiving? I pose to you, oh
classy one, rosemary garlic popcorn. 
Tools
Popcorn Machine/Microwave 
Stove
Saucepan
Knife 
Cutting Board 
Ingredients 
Popcorn Kernels / Plain Microwave Popcorn  
Butter
Rosemary 
Garlic
Parmesan / Nutritional Yeast 
Recipe 
Pop your popcorn. I did ⅓ cup of kernels, if you’re dining on carcinogenic microwave popcorn, one bag will do. 
Throw 1 stick (½ cup) of salted butter (unsalted if your popcorn is salted) into a small saucepan. Toss one large sprig of rosemary
right in. Turn your stove on low heat and melt that butter down.
Dice a teaspoon or two of rosemary and a large clove of garlic into tiny itty bitty bits. Throw them into the butter. 
Allow the butter to be infused by the rosemary and garlic for 10 minutes. When you’re happy with the flavor, take the large sprig of
rosemary out. 
Coat your popcorn with the infused butter, shaking it around between pours to evenly coat. 
And there you have it! Bougie fragrant popcorn to impress your roommate. That’s what life is all about, am I right? Validation. Just
kidding. Eat your popcorn. 
Fern Creson



2025-03-05 Dormiliciouse: Rosemary Garlic Popcorn

Kalesh, Emma

Fragments 
Volume 62 Interlude Article 6 
2020 
Truck Stop 
Emma Kalesh 
Seattle University 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments 
Recommended Citation 
Kalesh, Emma (2020) "Truck Stop," Fragments: Vol. 62, Article 6. 
Available at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments/vol62/iss1/6 
This Prose is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks @ SeattleU. It has been accepted for 
inclusion in Fragments by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks @ SeattleU. 
1 
 
Truck Stop 
Emma Kalesh 
 
 
Jim took his sons fishing every other Saturday. Rise at the break of dawn and breathe 
the fresh morning air. Three hooks breaking water’s surface. Jim stared into the 
unblinking eyes of his catch. As time passed, Saturdays became sparse and their little 
boat became smaller. Jim’s wife diminished, too, becoming only Finn and Pete’s 
mother. Time spent between father and sons dwindled. And soon, Jim’s moments of 
repose were limited, too. The road, while monotonous, was anything but tranquil. 
Jim’s life became that road – unending, terrifying, lost. Some days he feared that the 
road would never cease. However, some things are constant in this world. More 
constant than a marriage vow is the green post labelled “Truck Stop – 1 mile ahead.” 
 
Loneliness never felt as powerful as it was inside that cement block called ‘Truck 
Stop.’ A necessary breath between hours of choking – choking on black tar and car 
freshener and three day-old cheese puffs. Now parked between two towering cargo 
tanks, Jim inhales. Exhales. He survived. It often feels as if taking that exit might be 
the last thing he ever does. It never is. The road hasn’t swallowed him whole yet. 
 
First things first. Shower. As he takes heavy steps out of his door, Jim scans the neon-
lit, concrete wasteland. Could be any town off the highway of middle-America. His 
first breath of unfiltered air in hours is clouded by the stench of gasoline, cigarettes, 
and cheap perfume. Where is that perfume coming from? 
 
A quick walk to the shower rooms. Ten dollars to enter a room steaming with musk 
and lemon. Two men rinse themselves in the stalls beside Jim, coughing and spitting 
and humming familiar tunes. As the lukewarm water pounds into Jim’s stale brain, so 
do unwelcome thoughts of his old life. The old shower that always needed fixing. The 
kitchen sink he unclogged a dozen times. Now there is no shower head to pressurize, 
no sink to fiddle with. No one to make demands that once felt exploitative. The water 
1
Kalesh: Truck Stop
Published by ScholarWorks @ SeattleU, 2020
2 
 
rushing down his pale, gray skin does little to stop the thoughts that creep in. He turns 
off the tap and towels off. Perhaps a burger will fill this vacant feeling. 
 
Every single time. Every one of those Saturdays, Jim tried to teach them how to fillet 
their catch. “Cut down, behind the gills. Take the tip inside the skin from the head to 
the tail, like this,” he would explain, “then do the same thing on the other side and 
peel the skin off, like this. Simple as that.” Their little eyes examined the process 
closely. 
 
But they always made him teach them again the next time. They never really listened 
to him. In his loneliness he often wonders what he did to make them stop listening. 
Listening shows you care. It shows respect. Sometimes he would get so frustrated… 
he would yell at them, and at the fish, and at the knife. At the damn lake, too. You 
can’t make someone care about you. And you can’t, no matter what, force them to 
listen. This was the fact that frustrated him most of all. If only they had cared enough 
for him, as he cared for them. He wouldn’t be stuck, penniless, slave to the next 
Truck Stop. Sleeping between gasoline tanks, instead of walls. 
 
Off to the burger joint, then. No need to look at the menu – why try something new? 
He orders a cheeseburger with fries. Across the room sits another identifiable trucker 
– puffy cheeks and lonely eyes. A woman sits beside him, and they clasp hands. The 
man puts money on the table and they walk hand-in-hand out of the dining room. Jim 
feels a twinge in his chest. So we are not the same. Perhaps this perceived loneliness 
was a projection, a need for common ground. It’s much lonelier to know that no one 
else is as lonely as you. 
 
A cheeseburger devoured. Two fries left in the basket; they can have each other. The 
waitress’s smile on the way out – he tipped beyond budget. The sun finally dips 
below the horizon, and Jim returns home. The ambient buzz of the road sustains, 
never-ending. Reminding him of the fate awaiting him when the sun finally wraps 
itself around the base of the earth. The road beckons to him. 
 
2
Fragments, Vol. 62 [2020], Art. 6
https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments/vol62/iss1/6
3 
 
The fish never tasted as it should. Especially on cold, joyless dawns – of scolding and 
suppressed tears. On the Perfect Day, ten year-old Pete manifested a walleye. Excited, 
he shrieked at the sight of it, of what he was able to do. At lunch, they chatted by the 
grill as the perfect fillet steamed. 
 
As they munched on Pete’s victory, he probed his father: “Why’s it called it a ‘wall-
eye’?” Jim paused, and walked over to the cleaning table. He picked up two orbs. 
 
“See these? Look how they shine.” Pete stared straight into the eyes whose life he had 
taken.  “These eyes collect light, so they can see anything in the dark. More than us, 
even.” Pete seemed mesmerized. Jim reveled in the knowledge he could offer his 
eldest son. “They point outward,” Jim said, rotating the dismembered eyes as if 
attached to the fish, “like they’re looking at walls.” 
 
“But lakes don’t have walls, Dad,” Pete said, with intensity. There was a pause. 
 
“Well, people do. And isn’t everything about us anyway?” Jim took the eyes and 
threw them into the campfire. Pete’s face went pale. Jim laughed. Then they all 
laughed, continuing to eat. The best fish Jim had ever eaten. But Jim should have seen 
how Pete regretted asking about the eyes. And the walls. His father could not see the 
fear that grew within him. Fear of the lake, the boat, the hooks, but more than 
anything, fear of those eyes, once so large and full of life. And his father tossed them 
into the raging fire as if they were dry leaves. From then on, Pete could no longer see 
beyond the darkness in his father. Saturdays became yelling at the cleaning table and 
eating flesh. 
 
Jim always tried to be a good father. And wasn’t trying the most important thing? His 
inability to connect with his sons couldn’t be only his fault alone. So when years 
later, Pete and Finn chose their mother in the courtroom, Jim felt only anger. Not 
remorse. Their mother told Jim that they feared him, that they weren’t close to him. 
But those words were not nearly as hurtful as those from Finn’s ten year-old mouth: 
“We don’t want to go fishing anymore.” Jim remembers throwing the landline across 
the room. 
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Kalesh: Truck Stop
Published by ScholarWorks @ SeattleU, 2020
4 
 
 
It’s finally dark. Jim’s trek back to Truck Stop is unusually slow. His legs drag across 
the pavement as the yellow street lamps cast his shadow on the pavement before him. 
He recognizes himself in that shadow; more than any mirror or photograph. It seems 
to be reaching, stretching, searching for something in the darkness. But it’s tied to the 
ground. Tied to the ground of Truck Stop. As empty and lifeless and hopeless as the 
dead eyes of the walleye. 
 
That familiar scent of cheap perfume wafts again in his direction. His eyes follow his 
nose to an unlit, high-heeled woman being given cash through the window of his 
next-door neighbor. As she walks away, Jim considers calling her over. But before he 
does, he turns his eyes to his neighbor’s front seat. Although it is dark, and only a 
single street lamp illuminates his eyes, Jim recognizes the man beside him. The man 
from the burger joint. Lonely Man. 
 
Lonely Man turns and looks at Jim. Their eyes connect for a few moments, before 
Lonely Man breaks, leaning back in his seat and pulling his baseball cap over his 
eyes. Maybe we are the same after all. This somehow makes him feel worse. But 
suddenly, from nowhere, a new thought enters his mind, beyond the pain and sorrow 
and hopelessness. A realization. 
 
The Perfect Day wasn’t really ‘perfect.’ Jim now remembers the silence in the car on 
the drive home. How he really had felt wrong about what had happened at the fire and 
all those times at the cleaning table, but had kept it down – clouded it with jokes and 
excuses. And so much anger. The loss of his children, his home, his life. All these 
memories, all these thoughts, all these regrets. Perhaps they had value. And if only he 
had listened to them closer, cared enough to take them in. His life might be different 
by now. 
 
Jim thinks again. Maybe we aren’t the same. Maybe I just need to try harder. Try to 
make my life better. He didn’t deserve the family he had, but he wants to now. Jim 
starts the loud ignition of his semi – the sound of chains breaking. As he pulls out of 
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Fragments, Vol. 62 [2020], Art. 6
https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments/vol62/iss1/6
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the lot and onto the highway, he says his final goodbye to Truck Stop. Leaving his 
shadow behind. 
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Kalesh: Truck Stop
Published by ScholarWorks @ SeattleU, 2020


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