DigitalCommons@C.O.D.

Bocker, Melisande

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 44 
Number 2 Spring 2022 Article 43 
Spring 5-1-2022 
The Monster in the Shadows 
Melisande Bocker 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Bocker, Melisande (2022) "The Monster in the Shadows," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 44: No. 2, Article 
43. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol44/iss2/43 
This Selection 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 Monster in the Shadows  Melisande Bocker
     Humans are adaptive and intelligent creatures; it is these aspects that allow 
them to survive. Not only do they survive, but they can even be considered 
the most dangerous creature in existence of the mortal realm. 
     I once met one; A human. She called herself Cynthia. I had, of course, 
been taught never to reveal myself for fear of humans’ caution and clever-
ness. They would not risk my claws and fangs. 
     I first noticed Cynthia while I lay in the shadows of a court bench. While all 
eyes were upon the raging man in the witness chair, her brown eyes watched 
me. I had done everything required to evade all human senses, and yet she 
looked upon me with such intensity. I slipped back into the shadows, into 
our world. I knew I should report the anomaly, and yet those eyes seemed 
burned into me– twisting, thrashing into my gut. Curiosity finally won out 
and I returned to the courtroom, sure she had long since vanished, and yet, in 
the darkened room now blanketed in shadows, there she sat upon the bench. 
Brown eyes of mild curiosity. 
     I did not like those eyes, I decided, so I rose from the shadows till I tow-
ered above her. I gave a cruel, white-fanged smile; reached forward with long 
black claws, and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. She did not 
so much as flinch. I held back the shiver that wished to ripple up my ridge. 
     She gave a disinterested grunt, and I longed to crumble back into the pool 
of shadows. But I could not. I was now, somehow, hers. 
     I said nothing to no one of this encounter, this unsettlement. When she 
called, I felt myself drawn out of the shadows. I grew accustomed to Cyn-
thia’s expressionless, demanding self. She labeled me her friend; and I con-
vinced myself to ignore the tremors of fear each time she called. 
     The curse was broken one night, and it was a night and a day I shall never 
forget. I rose from the shadows as I always had. We were in a living room. A 
kind young man sat beside Cynthia upon an old couch. He was smiling with 
such love for Cynthia. Upon noticing my presence, his eyes grew fearful and 
while his kind green eyes were fixated on me, Cynthia pulled forth a knife, 
and plunged it into his chest.  
     For the first time, I saw Cynthia give a genuine smile as she stabbed the 
helpless young man again and again. I heard, for the first time, her laugh 
of pure glee as she slit the young man’s throat and even as the boy’s green 
eyes grew dull, she continued to slash, rip, and stab. Her laughter sickened 
me. I crouched in the corner, folding my ears inwards in an attempt to block 
the squelch of blood as blade tore apart skin and flesh. Whimpering, my red 
eyes staring at the dull green ones that had pleaded for my help in their final 
moments. 
     Finally, Cynthia tossed aside the knife, it skittered close to where I shook. 
She wrapped herself around the dead boy, giggling like some lovesick 
schoolgirl as she cuddled into the drying blood and fell asleep. I could not 
leave, could not stop the tremors, the flinching at every twitch her sleeping 
form made. It felt an eternity before the sun filtered through the window and 
I fell into our world of shadows as it blessed me with its light. 
     When Cynthia next called, I trembled and curled in on myself. My 
breathing grew ragged, and I clung to the shadows. Every call threatened to 
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dislodge me, but I held fast until something snapped. Her calls no longer 
pulled me from the shadows. 
     I still hear her calls and, each time, I become sick with the memory of 
the monster, of a woman who had adapted and embraced pain, falling so 
deeply in love with it. 
Host-Ill, Angelo Mendez
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The Prairie Light Review, Vol. 44, No. 2 [2022], Art. 43
https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol44/iss2/43


English

The Monster in the Shadows

Bishop, Bee

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 44 
Number 2 Spring 2022 Article 48 
Spring 5-1-2022 
From the Ghost of Your Dead Father 
Bee Bishop 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Bishop, Bee (2022) "From the Ghost of Your Dead Father," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 44: No. 2, Article 
48. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol44/iss2/48 
This Selection 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. 
From the Ghost of Your Dead Father 
Bee Bishop
Felonious deeds flow through our bones.
Ultimately, we aspire to
Live in a world
Filled with
Inquiries that require
Lazy answers,
Lost in the grave of an old jester.
 
Yesterday stands as a reminder of what
Opposes the very structure of justice.
Unfazed and unafraid, march forward demanding
Repentance from those who have hurt us.
 
Man calls to fate, fate calls to man. But their calls
Evade each other in a skilled game of
Avoidance. The dance created to
Never recognize the struggle
Internalized by us all, the laying in the
Night.
Galaxies lose themselves in her eyes, swirling into a
Liquor most foul.
Eventually, the maiden must drown
Suffocating
Surrounded by her own floriferous nature.
 
Pause.
Underneath the pain
Remains the reasoning for it all.
Pray to the
Ones who fill your hopeless dreams of
Becurity. The beginning has
Emerged as the worst part of our story.
Sweet Prince, Good Night.
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From the Ghost of Your Dead Father

Paulius, Mary

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 44 
Number 2 Spring 2022 Article 90 
Spring 5-1-2022 
Fall Farm Morning 
Mary Paulius 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Paulius, Mary (2022) "Fall Farm Morning," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 44: No. 2, Article 90. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol44/iss2/90 
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. 
A patch of golden sunlight where it rains
Khadijah Rashid
A patch of golden sunlight
A secret outing one night
A patch of golden sunlight where it rains
Always looking for more
I watch through the garage door
Naturally memorize a web of names
Try to soak in the moment
Catch a lightning bug and hold it
Seems that there’s no growing without pain
The past is looking better
After the soil is wetter
And it’s okay that we’ll never be the same
Fall Farm Morning, Mary Paulius
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Fall Farm Morning

Faivre, Carolyn

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 45 
Number 1 Fall 2022 Article 22 
Fall 12-1-2022 
Red Madonna Speaking Truths 
Carolyn Faivre 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Faivre, Carolyn (2022) "Red Madonna Speaking Truths," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 45: No. 1, Article 22. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol45/iss1/22 
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. 
I Yearn For
Kristy A. Belton
The freedom of  madness
snarling, spitting, heaving
I want to howl as I speak
paw the earth as I dance
and shit on human artifice
I want to smell rain on fierce wind
feel sunlight on naked skin
and roam in places where
only wild things run free
I want to plant seeds in spaces
roots have been torn out
and breathe buds into blossom
I want to break open like fractured earth
revealing worlds where soul leaps
and sing my madness 
straight through to the center
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Red Madonna Speaking Truths

Bonnano, Fred

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 45 
Number 1 Fall 2022 Article 55 
Fall 12-1-2022 
Funeral For My Past 
Fred Bonnano 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Bonnano, Fred (2022) "Funeral For My Past," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 45: No. 1, Article 55. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol45/iss1/55 
This Selection 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. 
Peanut Butter Cookies, 12-’83
Ray Makowski
There is magic in
an unspoken “I love you”
of  yellowed notecard recipes
copied over
and newspaper-clipping cobbler
carefully preserved
“may you share this with your loved ones,
even in a time when my name is forgotten.”
Funeral For My Past
Fred Bonnano
I attended a funeral dressed in black
I abruptly left but something called me back
I had to say goodbye
I had to let it die
The time is now, it cannot wait
It held me back, but it is not too late
It had its grip around my throat
Left for dead, barely afloat
It dragged me down and gave me no hope
At times it felt I was at the end of  my rope
I was held prisoner in my mind
Eyes were open, but I was blind
For so many years I held it inside
I lied
I denied
In some ways I died
Time to look in the mirror and let it go
Time to let my inner seed grow
Seeking guidance seeking direction
This will be my resurrection
Never question what could have been
That will steal your soul from within
The demon has been slayed
No more am I afraid
As I lower the coffin lid
This forever nightmare, I am finally rid
I am free at last
I held a funeral for my past
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Funeral For My Past

Toreeva, Natalia

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 45 
Number 1 Fall 2022 Article 60 
Fall 12-1-2022 
Old Man 
Natalie Toreeva 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Toreeva, Natalie (2022) "Old Man," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 45: No. 1, Article 60. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol45/iss1/60 
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. 
One where we cry at graduation
Where the beach is our sacred place
Where we’re each other’s salvation
Where you gift me a ribbon made of  lace
I wonder if  we’d still choose the same
If  we were meant to fall apart
A wretched friendship, a dying flame
If  I was destined to break our heart
There’s a universe where we’re buried as one
Yet not buried for our want
You know I’d love you in every planet
Even if  I wouldn’t want it.
Natalie Toreeva. Old Man. Pen and Ink
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Old Man

Petsakou, Vasileia

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 45 
Number 1 Fall 2022 Article 79 
Fall 12-1-2022 
Queen Luna 
Vasileia Petsakou 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Petsakou, Vasileia (2022) "Queen Luna," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 45: No. 1, Article 79. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol45/iss1/79 
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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. 
Vasileia Petsakou. Queen Luna. Acrlyic on Wood.
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Queen Luna

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 44 
Number 2 Spring 2022 Article 1 
Spring 5-1-2022 
Front Cover 
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Recommended Citation 
(2022) "Front Cover," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 44: No. 2, Article 1. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol44/iss2/1 
This Article 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. 
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Front Cover

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 44 
Number 2 Spring 2022 Article 5 
Spring 5-1-2022 
Scholarship Info 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
(2022) "Scholarship Info," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 44: No. 2, Article 5. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol44/iss2/5 
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 
DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu. 
R
O
LL
IN
G
 
SU
BM
IS
SI
O
N
S
The Prairie Light Review accepts 
submissions throughout the aca-
demic 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 me-
dium. If you are interested, please 
submit all work to:
prairielightreviewsubmissions@gmail.com
SC
H
O
LA
R
SH
IP
IN
FO
The Budilovsky Literary Scholar-
ship provides one $500 award per 
semester in conjunction with being 
published in the College of DuPage’s 
Prairie Light Review. To be consid-
ered for this award, the entrant must 
remain a student at COD the fol-
lowing 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 auto-
biographical in nature.
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Scholarship Info

Vazquez, Katrina

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 44 
Number 2 Spring 2022 Article 45 
Spring 5-1-2022 
Think 
Katrina Vazquez 
College of DuPage 
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Recommended Citation 
Vazquez, Katrina (2022) "Think," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 44: No. 2, Article 45. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol44/iss2/45 
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. 
SO
LI
TA
RY
Think, Katarina Vazquez
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