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Schnell, Philip

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 42 Number 2 Article 16 
Spring 5-1-2020 
On the Edge of the Universe 
Philip Schnell 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Schnell, Philip (2020) "On the Edge of the Universe," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 42 : No. 2 , Article 16. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol42/iss2/16 
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more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
On the Edge of the Universe                     Philip Schnell
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English

On the Edge of the Universe

Voegtle, Olivia

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 42 Number 2 Article 62 
Spring 5-1-2020 
The Broken Girl’s Blood 
Olivia Voegtle 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Voegtle, Olivia (2020) "The Broken Girl’s Blood," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 42 : No. 2 , Article 62. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol42/iss2/62 
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The Broken Girl’s Blood                              Olivia Voegtle
Paris, France 
Summer 1789
      
The gunfire had stopped. The morning bells had not 
rung as they should have. But then again, nothing, absolutely 
nothing was as it should have been. Nicole Durand sat beneath 
the window in her family’s single room, the mist of the morning 
crowding against the windowpane. The room was dank. The 
street, deserted. The whole city ripe with the smell and the sounds 
of death. “Come, Nicoline…” Nicole’s mother held a work-worn 
hand to her daughter, who stared past it, uncomprehending. “We 
must do our part.” 
 Nicole took the offered hand and prepared mechanically, 
like the cogs of the clocktower. She wrapped her threadbare shawl 
about her shoulders and accepted the bucket of suds her younger 
sister handed to her. Nicole stared down into the girl’s face.
 It was too old for a child of eleven; gaunt with suffering and too 
little bread, lines creasing her forehead, her blue eyes empty. She 
had seen. She knew. She understood. 
She’s too young to understand... Nicole thought as she stumbled 
down the narrow stairwell after her mother. 
But when does anyone understand? When does one embark on 
the path to comprehending death and honor and sacrifice? When 
will the human mind be able to easily shift from one day where 
people are breathing and loving and living into the next day where 
they are not?  
 As they neared the doorway which opened out into the 
street, the fibers of Nicole’s body rebelled. The cloud of blood 
infecting every breath she took hung thicker as they approached 
the street. She couldn’t go out there. She couldn’t face it. 
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Not again. 
But you must. Her conscience demanded. For them.
From above, she knew her siblings would be watching, 
determining their own reaction from hers. If she, their eldest 
sister, who on this past night had suffered both loss of love and 
country could continue, then they would also. She hefted the 
bucket higher, her fingers pinched under the handle, and followed 
her mother into the square. 
Red. Everything was red. Crimson fingerprints kissed the 
doorframes of the shopfronts and the cobbled streets were 
swimming in the stuff, unable to accept the revolutionaries’ 
mortal offering. Tattered flags withered under the debris of broken 
carriages and carts, which were the sorry remains of the barricade 
erected during the battle that had waged here just hours before. 
Madame Durand was unfazed by the gore. 
She knelt in the sticky tide, tossed her bucket of suds against the 
blood, and began to scrub. The older woman shook with the effort 
of the task. Nicole trembled with rage. 
Her only thought was this: The blood soaking in through the holes 
of her shoes had flowed through the veins of her countrymen 
yesterday. 
 She could not kneel in it, condemning it, erasing it, 
dishonoring the sacrifice of men she admired. She continued to 
stand. “Nicole!” Madame Durand admonished Nicole’s neglect, but 
continued to scrub around her daughter. 
Slowly other women crawled from their apartments like worms 
from the ground after a spring rain. Women, young and old alike, 
knelt beside the elderly Durand, armed with their own buckets 
and brushes. This scene had been repeated many times before. 
After the battles raged, the dutiful French women always returned 
to the square to scour away the proof, obscuring their sorrow with 
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The Prairie Light Review, Vol. 42, No. 2 [2020], Art. 62
https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol42/iss2/62
suds, and washing away the blood of their wounded hearts. Now 
the women whispered to each other while they worked and as 
the early morning slipped by the town began to awaken around 
them. Shop doors were propped open, smoke whisked through 
the cloudy sky like wolves through the snow, and the high-pitched 
titter of children’s voices ground against Nicole’s ears. 
“Life goes on...” The thought appeared, unbidden and at odds 
with the outrage surging through her body. Those three words 
suggested submission. That she bend her will, throw down her 
bucket, and scrub with these women as she had time and time 
before.  It would be a tiny thing. It would be a big thing. 
Then, the crack of gunfire rent the security of the morning routine. 
The peasants who had just emerged fled like church mice back 
into their hovels. “Nicoline?” Her mother waited by their door for 
her daughter  to follow. 
But Nicole was no longer uncertain of her path. As the old men 
shut the doors and the women and children scurried back to their 
dank apartments, Nicole dashed her bucket against the stone and 
pulled a battered musket from a pile of rubble. 
“Nicoline!” Her mother cried as she realized her daughter’s intent. 
But she was gone, her bloody feet carrying her toward the battle, 
her mind fixed singularly on the thought that tomorrow the blood 
on the street would finally mean something. 
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The Broken Girl’s Blood

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 43 Number 1 Article 3 
Fall 12-1-2020 
About 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
(2020) "About," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 43 : No. 1 , Article 3. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol43/iss1/3 
This Prefatory Note is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at 
DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of 
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About
The Prairie Light Review is the liberal arts journal of the College of 
DuPage. This biannual journal seeks to showcase the diverse work 
produced by creative individuals surrounding us. Our publication 
exists entirely because of our loyal community, as we only accept 
submissions from District 502 and rely on our team of student 
editors to edit, format, and produce the literary journal. Each piece 
submitted is evaluated anonymously in order to ensure objectivity. 
Join
To join our Editorial team, enroll in English 2210 for the upcoming 
semester! 
Direct additional inquiries to: 
 Adam Fotos, Faculty Advisor 
 fotosa@cod.edu
 630-942-3167
Rolling Submissions
The Prairie Light Review accepts submissions throughout the 
academic year. We accept submissions of any in the following 
categories: original fiction, nonfiction, essays, drama, poetry, 
graphic essays, black and white and color photography, and 2D and 
3D artwork of any medium. If you are interested, please submit all 
work to:
 prairielightreviewsubmissions@gmail.com
Scholarship Info
The Budilovsky Literary Scholarship provides one $500 award per 
semester in conjunction with being published in the College of 
DuPage’s Prairie Light Review. To be considered for this award, the 
entrant must remain a student at COD the following semester and 
have written a quality piece of any type (i.e., essay, poem, short story, 
etc.). Preference will be made to pieces that are autobiographical in 
nature.
More at: 
         @cod_plr
        prairielightreview.weebly.com 
cod.edu/student_life/publications/prairie_light_review
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About

Kline, Jada

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 43 Number 1 Article 10 
Fall 12-1-2020 
The Sea On the Edge of Forever 
Jada Kline 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Kline, Jada (2020) "The Sea On the Edge of Forever," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 43 : No. 1 , Article 10. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol43/iss1/10 
This Artwork is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
The Sea On the Edge of Forever                                 Jada Kline
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The Sea On the Edge of Forever

Vali, Aleksandra

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 43 Number 1 Article 13 
Fall 12-1-2020 
Chain of Mysterious Transformations 
Aleksandra Vali 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Vali, Aleksandra (2020) "Chain of Mysterious Transformations," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 43 : No. 1 , 
Article 13. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol43/iss1/13 
This Artwork is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
Compelled Mysteriously 
I am led by something felt
on the wind, something unseen in the stars.
Silver jewels hang so close they almost
drop in my boat – yet they
remain out of reach.
Why do I row toward Hawaii?
I am driven by secrets
in the salt breeze, mysteries
glinting on the waves.
My grandfather never came to Kauai
yet his wandering ways
run deep in my blood. Like him
I sail west toward the golden sunset
coming closer to a far-away dream. 
Ahead looms the volcanic mountain
where Goddess Pele of fire and passion
lives in her burning home.
I stare until I become
part of the mist-entrapped mountain.
Something pulls me…
something written on the wind,
something moving
under the silk scrolls of the ocean. 
Mardelle Fortier        
Chain of Mysterious Transformations                  Aleksandra Vali
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Chain of Mysterious Transformations

Schurmeier, Jerry

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 43 Number 1 Article 20 
Fall 12-1-2020 
Life's Splash 
Jerry Schurmeier 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Schurmeier, Jerry (2020) "Life's Splash," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 43 : No. 1 , Article 20. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol43/iss1/20 
This Artwork is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
Life’s Splash 
Jerry Schurmeier
The Moment of Illusion
Aleksandra Vali
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Life\u27s Splash

Nugent, Colin

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 43 Number 1 Article 47 
Fall 12-1-2020 
Red Barns 
Colin Nugent 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Nugent, Colin (2020) "Red Barns," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 43 : No. 1 , Article 47. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol43/iss1/47 
This Artwork is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
Red Barns                                                                              Colin Nugent
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Red Barns

Jain, Megha

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 43 Number 1 Article 53 
Fall 12-1-2020 
Around the City 
Megha Jain 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Jain, Megha (2020) "Around the City," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 43 : No. 1 , Article 53. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol43/iss1/53 
This Artwork is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It 
has been accepted for inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For 
more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
up around her, the jungle trying to take more of her, make her one 
of its own. Encased seemingly in the cold, clammy hand of Death 
himself, she’d woken up screaming.
 It was absurd. She was aware. She’d been scolded harshly 
by a private once she worked herself free and calmed down.  
 Fool woman. 
 But everything had seemed alive over there. Even the mud.
 Nowadays, Ms. Young never went out in the rain for fear 
that stepping on a soggy lawn would give her a heart attack. When 
she came here, to the blissful quiet of a frozen winter town, she’d 
thought perhaps some peace could be found.
But she should’ve known. The war was still going. For her it would 
never end. 
 She settled into her old Volkswagen, the worn-down stick 
shift from a time before automatics. She pulled languidly out 
of the driveway, smoothing her gloved hands over the leather 
steering wheel. The heat blew cold air on her exposed wrists and 
she shivered, aching muscles coiling even tighter in on themselves. 
 A horn honked behind her, and she realized the stoplight 
in front of her had long ago turned green. She peeled forward, the 
snow-frosted shop windows scrolling past at the edge of her vision. 
She pulled into the first spot she saw and parked, too weary to go 
any further, and aware it was quite a ways from where she intended 
to be. 
Around the City                                                                  Megha Jain 1
Jain: Around the City
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College of DuPage

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On the Edge of the Universe

The Broken Girl’s Blood

About

The Sea On the Edge of Forever

Chain of Mysterious Transformations

Life\u27s Splash

Red Barns

Around the City

Western DuPage Special Recreation Association Fundraising Letter

The Contradictions Between Greek Goddesses and Mortal Women

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