Bianca J. Cook

Digging Out Four Decades Of Dirt Gloved hands pulled brittle oak leaves off the cowl and brushed away layers of gray barn dust. Behind the weathered wooden doors sat a green 1969 Camaro Z/28 resting on flat, rotted rubber. A steel cable hooked directly to the front chassis loop, tightening with a high-pitched metallic creak. … Read more

Demands at the Window Table A man in a dark suit dropped his leather binder onto the white tablecloth and pointed across the dining room toward the street-facing window. He glanced at his phone, tapping the screen before turning his gaze to the restaurant manager standing beside him. At the window table sat an elderly … Read more

A Steaming Ladle and Two Dollar Bills The worn dollar bill touched the stainless steel counter, smoothed flat by calloused hands in an orange safety vest. The diner owner took a metal ladle from the bubbling pot and filled a paper cup to the brim. He slid the soup forward, took a brown paper bag … Read more

A Question In The Summer Heat The boy pressed a single silver coin against the scratched wooden countertop. Outside, the midday heat rose off the asphalt in waves, but inside the small convenience store, he stood completely still, staring up at the shopkeeper. “Do you have heating pads?” the boy asked, his voice barely louder … Read more

A Sudden Stop on the Busy Highway The patrol car pulled hard against the curb as the officer gripped the splintered wood of the crutch. Beside him, an elderly woman leaned heavily to her right side, her fingers trembling against the worn handgrip. A deep vertical crack ran straight through the center of the wooden … Read more

A Struggle Above the Highway Heavy wings slammed against the wooden crossbeam as synthetic cord dug deeper into yellow talons. High above an empty mountain corridor, a mature bald eagle strained against yards of tangled netting snared across a utility pole. Each kick wound the gray mesh tighter around its ankles, pinning the raptor directly … Read more

A Frantic Call On The Wooden Dock The white goose charged forward across the wooden planks, flapping wide wings and honking directly at the ranger’s boots. Ranger Sarah stepped back, shifting her weight onto her heels as the large bird stretched its neck forward. Instead of biting or snapping, the goose spun around, took four … Read more

A Rigid Band Across Bone Two fingers reached toward the rigid blue plastic circled tightly around the pelican’s upper bill. The bird sat motionless against the marsh grasses, its dark eye tracking the approaching human hand. A discarded bottle cap ring bound the long bill, digging into the keratin sheath near the base of the … Read more

An Unusual Disturbance The brown and white dog paced in tight circles around a plastic container flipped upside down beneath a wooden picnic bench. Its ears twitched back, nose dipping directly toward the bottom seam where plastic met pine needles. A sharp, high-pitched bark echoed through the tall pine trees. A man dressed in a … Read more

A Narrow Path Above The Clouds A bare hand gripped the pale limestone wall as gravel shifted beneath climbing boots. High along an Alpine ridge, a thick blanket of white fog stretched across the valley floor thousands of feet below. Ahead on the footpath, barely two feet wide, a young chamois lay curled tightly against … Read more

A Struggle in the Wet Grass A small lamb kicked its rear hooves against the damp soil, twisting its body inside a tangle of fine white netting. The plastic mesh was wrapped around its torso and pinned its legs flat against the earth between two rows of fruit trees. A few paces away, an adult … Read more

A Frantic Defense in the Pouring Rain The brown-and-white killdeer dragged her left wing across the wet asphalt, fluttering in wild, lopsided circles directly beside the metal sewer bars. Rain beat down on the slick surface of the roadway as high-speed traffic whipped past just feet away. Each time a car rattled past, the bird … Read more