What Happened to Omelas? A Continuation of Ursula LeGuin’s Short Story… by Navin Salem was quiet. He had been quiet for the past three months. Since the moment he laid eyes on the child in the closet, he had not spoken a single word. His parents had tried to get him to open up, then…

By Megan  I watch my grandmother water her plants. She cares for them daily as though they’re her children. On cool mornings, she tucks them in a bit tighter in their soil. On warm mornings, she douses them in a bit of extra water. A variety of plants and fruit trees are scattered in her…

The Brahmin’s Pot By Rev. Lal Behari Day, Retold by Navin Once upon a time, there lived a poor Brahmin. He had no trade, and lived primarily on the donations of the wealthy. When he performed marriage or funeral ceremonies, he was able to make ends meet. However, the villagers did not get married or…

Birds Get Wiser With Age, Demonstrating Improved Decision Making “In general, I’ve always wondered what birds’ issue is and why they need to migrate such absurd distances, and then I read about the arctic tern and found this: Arctic terns are true champions in the bird world. They fly about 11,000 miles from their breeding…

The Underground Part II Toby blinked and sat up. He was alone in a tunnel with packed dirt walls and a grassy floor. Behind him was a solid wall, and in front of him, the tunnel stretched endlessly into darkness. “Tabitha?!” he called. There was no response. Toby got up and dusted off his pants.…

The mornings began with prayer and announcement. They all stood up as the principal’s voice greeted us over the intercom system, stretching and yawning since classes started at 7:45. A song would follow, and we would all sing the hymn before sitting down to the first-class period of the day: religion. Math would follow, and…

New Year, New Column! Disclaimer: Every story published as a part of this column is 100% based off a real dream that Navin had and recorded. This may lead to a significant lack of context. Names are changed to avoid repetition The Underground Part I  The sun sets on the horizon, lighting the sky in…

Brown Forest. Black Forest. Light Forest?          You’re exploring the woods on a hike when dusk is falling, and it gets too dark to see the path. You check your phone, and it’s out of charge- which means no phone flashlight. Fortunately, you don’t need to despair. Specially engineered nanoparticles have been embedded into the…

Part II The factory executives examined their carefully curated List of Factory Scruples. “All right,” wept Secretary Kinder. “This is hopeless. I’m feeling ill, got a terrible headache. I’m going home.” “Maybe not all that hopeless,” said the treasurer, looking closely at the spreadsheet. “Excuse me,” volunteered the new office historian. “Perhaps we can recap…

How the Raja’s Son Won the Princess Labam An Indian Folk Tale, Retold by Navin Long, long ago, in a country, there was a Raja and a Rani. Their only son wanted to go hunting in the nearby forest. The Rani showed him the map and said to him, “You can hunt wherever you like…